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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Dance with the Devil: Chapter 37


Blair and Todd arrived at the PCPD and told the desk sergeant they needed to speak to Commissioner Devane.  She appeared and ushered them into the interrogation room.  As they gathered around the table, Todd shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  Anna took note of that.  “What can I do for you, Mr. Manning?” she began.
 
He heaved out a sigh and turned to Blair.  She gave him a nod of encouragement and he looked back at Anna.  “Last night, you asked me about what Heather was doing out in the storm that night and I said I had no idea.  Now, it wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t…the whole truth?” he said as almost a question.
 
“Alright, what was Heather doing at the shed that night?” Anna asked.
 
“Well, see, before I saw her, I noticed there was this wheelbarrow also outside.  Now, it was a garden shed so it wasn’t that strange to see one out there.  However, what was unusual about this wheelbarrow was what was in it,” he hedged.  He could see she was losing patience with him, so he finally same out with, “Anthony Zacchara’s body.”
 
Anna took a deep breath and stood up.  “Are you sure he was dead?”
 
“I think I can tell what a dead body looks like,” he answered.  “I didn’t ask any questions, and all she said she was doing was gardening.”  He let out a sigh again.  “Look, at the time, what some stranger--because that was who she was at that point--was doing out in the middle of a storm with a dead body was the least of my concerns.  Tea had just given birth, the baby was barely breathing and Heather saw that and offered help.  She said she was good with babies.”
 
Anna thought for a moment.  “Okay, well, we can definitely place her in the area on the night in question.  Did she say why she was getting rid of the body?”
 
“Not that night, but afterwards, as she was threatening me with the baby switch, she told me she got rid of the body to protect the man she loved.  She thought he had killed Zacchara and if she got rid of the body, this guy would love her,”  he explained.  “She really has some serious relationship issues.”
 
Anna turned to Todd.  “Who did she say she thought killed Zacchara?” Anna asked, even though she had an idea of the suspect.
 
“Ah, Luke Spencer, the guy who was at the party last night.  I think I read that he was married to Tracy Quartermaine at one point,” Todd said.
 
“Okay, so we have definite confirmation she was seen with Zacchara’s body, which corroborates what Tracy told me.  That still doesn’t answer who killed him,” Anna thought out loud.  Then she looked at Todd.  “One last question.  Did you see where in the area she buried the body?”
 
“No.  After she told me the baby was gone, she went about her business and I stayed inside trying to figure out what I was going to tell Tea.  That was when Sam came in and collapsed and I heard her baby.  And by that time, Tea had also found the shack and me holding Sam’s son.  That was when Heather came back from her gardening,” Todd explained.
 
“I do hope you appreciate this is off the record for now and I will not be reading about in the Sun tomorrow,” Anna said in a sweet but admonishing tone of voice.
 
“Well, I guess that hinges on how much trouble I’m in for not coming forward sooner with the information,” Todd said nonchalantly. 
 
Anna smirked at him.  “I don’t see any wrongdoing on your part.  As you said, your concern was for your nephew.”
 
“And I don’t see anything beyond a continuing investigation.  But it would be nice to have an exclusive at some point down the road,” Todd responded.
 
It was at this point that Blair cleared her throat.  “I wouldn’t push it, if I were you Todd,” she said under her breath.  Then she looked up at Anna.  “Look, considering how dangerous Heather Webber appears to be, I’m getting very worried for the safety of my family.  Is there anything you can do to at least alleviate my concerns.”
 
“Well, we still have been looking for her.  Unfortunately, she does have a history of disappearing quite thoroughly,” Anna said as opened the door for Todd and Blair.  As they left, she did say to them, “We will keep an eye on your residence, if you have those concerns.”  Todd nodded his thanks and Anna left the squad room.  They made their way back to the estate and went inside.
 
“Before we left this morning, I spoke to the movers.  They’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning, load up the truck and we’ll be off.  That should give me time tonight to has things out with Tea.  I did speak to Danie and see if she wanted to come with me, but she’s still too furious with her mother to see her.”  She headed to the door as she continued.  “Alright, I’m going to get on the road and head down to Llanview.  I’ll call you when I get there and also after I finish with Tea.”
 
Todd nodded.  “I’ll hold down the fort here.  The boys start school on Thursday, right?” he asked.
 
“Yep, but I should be back by then.  And Carly also let me know last night that she’ll be here tomorrow for your physical therapy,” Blair informed him.
 
“Oh, I get to see Carly,” he teased Blair.  “Well, you know how hot I am for her and all.” 
 
At that, Blair gave him a deep, passionate kiss.  “How hot are you for her now, Todd?” she asked seductively.
 
His eyes went wide.  “What was I saying?  My mind went completely blank,” he said as he returned the kiss.  Before it go on longer, though, Blair left the house and headed for the car and her destination of Llanview, Pennsylvania.
 
As Blair was heading south, Sarah was heading for breakfast with Danie at Kelly’s.  Sarah had been taken aback by her cousin’s initial reluctance, but she had eventually talked the younger girl into it.  Sarah walked into the diner and saw her sitting at the counter.  “Hey, how’s it going?” Sarah asked cheerfully.
 
Danie merely shrugged her shoulders.  “Fine, I guess.”
 
“Okay,” the blonde drawled out.  “Did you ever hear how I met Uncle Todd?  Come on over to a table and we can talk.”  As Sarah was telling the story, she could plainly see the lack of interest Danie displayed in it.  Finally, Sarah said, “There’s something wrong.  Look, you can talk to me.”  There was still no response, so Sarah asked directly, “Is this because Uncle Todd seems closer to Sam than to you?”
 
That seemed to stir Danie.  “No that’s not it.  Look, I know how well Todd gets along with kids and Sam is adorable and the right age to be charmed by him.”  She paused for a minute, gathering her thoughts.  “Look, it just that Todd’s the third father I’ve been through and right now, he’s got other concerns.  We all agree about that, Viki, Clint, Blair, and even me.”
 
Sarah noted that Danie didn’t use any phrase like aunt or uncle when she listed the names.  She had a sneaking suspicion something was up.  She made a note to talk to her grandfather soon.  “Look, if you ever need to talk, just give me a call.”
 
Danie nodded as her phone rang.  “Look, I have to take this call.  I haven’t spoken to this friend in a few days.”  Without receiving a response, Danie got up and left. 
 
Sarah finished her coffee and made her way out to the patio when, not looking where she was she was going, she walked right into someone.  “Oh, God, I’m sorry,” she said as a coffee stain was forming on the guy’s shirt.
 
He looked down at his shirt.  “No, that’s alright, really,” he said as he moved to get napkins off a table.  Sarah moved at the same time as him, and began wiping his shirt also.  “Really, it’s okay.  I wasn‘t watching where I was going either.” 
 
Sarah was embarrassed.  “Sorry, I just had a rough talk with someone and my mind was on that.” 
 
“Yeah, I just had some things on my mind too.  Look, let me buy you another cup of coffee,” the guy offered. 
 
“I usually don’t let strange men buy me coffee,” she said as she noticed how cute he looked.  He had the boho look going for him.
 
“Well, if I tell you my name, would I be strange man?” he asked.  He held out his hand.  “Dillon Quartermaine.”
 
Sarah narrowed her eyes.  “I was just at the Quartermaine estate last night.  My family’s new in town and the guy who owns it invited us there to hobnob.  By the way, I’m Sarah Roberts,” she said as they went back inside the diner.
 
“Ah, the ‘guy’ technically doesn’t own it, his daughter-in-law does, as she is more than happy to remind my mother and anyone else who makes that mistake.  And trust me, my mother and my grandfather continue to forget that fact,” Dillon explained as the coffees came.  “My mother railed against my uncle for it for years.”  He looked at Sarah.  “So your family is new in town?”
 
“Yeah, my uncle bought the Port Charles Press, which is now the Sun and my dad is doing business that somehow involves, ah, EL-” she started.
 
“ELQ, yes, which means my mom and your dad are probably on opposite sides of the deal.  Wait, the Press is gone?” Dillon asked suddenly.
 
“Yeah, while my dad’s side is big business, my mom’s side is publishing.  The Sun, The Banner, other media outlets,” Sarah told him. 
 
Dillon nodded.  “So, wealthy family over various sectors.  How dysfunctional is your family?” he said in an amused tone.
 
Sarah raised her eyebrow.  “Why would you say my family’s dysfunctional?” she asked.
 
“Cause I know the type.  Let me see,” he said as he examined her.  “Parents who shipped you off to school as soon as possible, frequent family infighting  and ruined holidays.”
 
Sarah turned her head slightly.  “I wasn’t exactly shipped off to school, but even my mom would admit she lacked in the parenting department.  As to the frequent family fights, my mom and her sister didn’t speak to each other for a few years on purpose and, well, my one uncle was accused of killing his brother.  But as to the holidays, no, we can actually manage to get through those in one piece.” She turned back to him.  “And you?”
 
“Well, my mom did ship off my older brother to boarding school, but with me, we led a gypsy existence until she dumped me back here for high school.  My mom has barely been around her family for any extended period of time up until eight years ago and we haven’t seen a Thanksgiving turkey dinner for as long as I’ve been around.  My mom hates my uncle’s widow, my two cousins were always in a struggle for their father’s attention and I’ve lost count of the number of illegitimate children my grandfather has.”
 
“Ah, well, as to the illegitimate children, my mother and her twin brothers are that in our family, but for the most part, they never really interacted with him.  Then there’s my Uncle Todd.  He has always hated my cousin/step-uncle who’s his nephew, but there’s a lot of bad blood there, so, it’s understandable,” came Sarah’s response.
 
“Cousin-slash-step-uncle?” Dillon asked perplexed.
 
“My mom’s sister married my grandfather’s son so there’s a double relationship there that took me years to figure out.”  She sighed as she thought about her family.  “Come to think about it, I have always felt like I was the most normal member of my family”
 
Dillon raised his coffee cup to Sarah.  “Looks like where in the same boat.”  He looked at his watch.  “Oh, jeez, I need to get to the estate.  Grandfather’s probably waiting for me.”
 
“Wait, it’s right next door to where I’m staying.  My uncle is letting me stay his gatehouse with his daughter since I’m sticking around town.  I’m the promoter for the Haunted Star,” she explained.  “I’ve got to get some stuff so it’s not out of my way.”
 
“That place used to be a casino.  My former stepfather ran it with money he got out of my mom.  Sure why not, we can continue to compare families,” Dillon laughed as he followed Sarah and they started telling each other outrageous stories about their families. 

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