Todd had a fitful night’s sleep, punctuated by the memories of his crimes. Then, it was as if a fog lifted.
He found himself standing in front of the French doors of the library in Llanfair. He looked out into the garden, then turned around as he heard the approach of footsteps.
Standing in front of him was Victor. With almost comic timing the twins asked each other, “What are you doing here?”
Then Todd looked down at his feet. “Why am I standing?”
Victor gave him a perplexed look. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I was shot in the back and they couldn’t get the bullet out of my spine without some risky surgery, which I will hopefully be having soon,” Todd told him. “Wait, if we’re supposed to have this twin connection thingy, wouldn’t you know this?”
“Dude. I’ve been so drugged up lately, I can’t feel anything,” Victor said. He looked around the room. “What the hell are we doing here?”
Todd thought about it for a minute. “Beats me. I never did like the style of this room, hell, this whole house,” he remarked snidely as he turned back to his brother. “Where are you? You asked me for my help but I have no idea how to even find you, even if I wanted to.”
“I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve known anything,” Victor said as he sat down. “So, what did you do to make Blair want to shoot you?”
“Why does everyone think it was Blair who shot me?” Todd questioned.
Then, in unison again, they remembered “Max.”
Todd sighed. “No, it was not Blair, just another crazy woman I stupidly got involved in,” he muttered. When Victor’s look showed he wanted more information, Todd redirected. “Let’s not talk about my shooting, let’s talk about yours. How did you even survive my murder attempt?”
“Ah, you didn’t shoot me,” came his response.
“Yes, I did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes I did!”
“No, you DIDN’T!” Todd looked at Victor and Victor smirked back. “You really think you shot me? Well. I’m honored I pissed you off enough to make you want to kill me, but that medal is reserved for someone else,” Victor said.
“Fine, if I didn’t shoot you, then who did?” Todd asked.
“Tomas Delgado,” he said, as if he was giving Todd the answer to two plus two.
Todd’s mouth hung open. “Tomas Delgado. Your brother-in-law Tomas Delgado.”
“Uh, yeah. I saw him, clear as day. I was leaving a voice message for Shaun and he walked in and shot me,” Victor insisted. At that answer, Todd broke out into hysterical laughter. In fact, he was laughing so much, he had to sit on the couch. Victor put his fists on his hips, starting to get more annoyed than usual at Todd. When his twin finally calmed down, Victor asked him, “Mind letting me in on the joke?”
Todd had to wipe tears out of his eyes. “I thought I had killed you. I remembered it sometime after the fact. But I got scared that I would lose everything I had just gotten back, especially Blair. And Tomas was circling her so to get him out of the way. I kidnapped him and framed him for the murder. A murder,” Todd laughed again, “that he actually did commit.”
“Yeah, well, when I get back, I’ll see that he pays,” Victor grunted.
“He already has.” Todd said. When he saw Victor’s look, he explained, “They found him in the Llantano River today.”
Victor put his head in his hands. “How’s Tea handling it?” he asked.
Todd blinked, thinking of Tea. “She hasn’t been having an easy time of it since your…um, death.” Todd got up and walked back over to the French doors. “Shortly afterwards, she found out…she was pregnant.”
Victor smiled. “I’m a father?” he asked, almost giddy. Then he saw Todd turn somber. “What happened?”
“It…very…complicated,” he said slowly, trying to decide how to explain the last few months. He took a deep breath. “Starr had some legal issues out of town and Blair asked or Tea insisted on representing her. I was already there and told her to go home, that I would take care of it. But you know Tea,” Todd tried to stall. He looked back at his brother. “I found Tea in the garage of her hotel and tried to get her to the hospital but she was in labor and there was a storm. There were power lines down and we got stuck and the only shelter was a buss stop so, I had to deliver him there.”
“Him? It’s a boy?” he asked, the smile getting wider.
“He wasn’t breathing or barely was. Tea insisted that I take him to get help. But the only help I found was a crazy woman who tried to resuscitate him but couldn’t,” Todd informed him. Victor slumped into a chair. “Then, it just so happened that another woman who had just given birth collapsed into the shed I was in and when I heard her baby crying I went to pick him up. That was when Tea found me and assumed it was her son. I tried to correct her but crazy lady came back and thought it was the baby that needed help until I showed her the woman in the shed, who she just happened to have a grudge against. She told me this woman was abandoning her son because it wasn’t her husband’s and he didn’t want it then convinced me that everything had worked out for the best.”
Victor launched himself out of the chair at his brother. “You switched the babies? You switched my dead son for another kid? WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?”
“I DIDN’T WANT TO HURT TEA MORE!!” Todd shouted. “I thought I had killed you, took you away from her. I couldn’t bare telling her the baby was dead.” He shoved his brother off of him. “But then, my luck just got worse. The woman, Sam, did actually want the baby and was devastated by it death. But that’s not the worse part.” Todd went back to the couch and fell into it. “When the ran test on the baby Tea had in her arms, he had a disorder only found in people from a particular part of the world, and it wasn’t Puerto Rico. And the baby that died had hemophilia, which Tea was a carrier for. When the babies were switched back, the ran a DNA test to confirm and here’s the really weird part.” Todd met Victor’s eyes. “The dead baby was, in no way, hers.”
“Then where is my son?” Victor asked.
“The authorities are investigating it, as well as your shooting…and now Tea’s disappearance,” Todd admitted.
Victor walked around the room. “So, my wife and son are missing, you’ve been shot,” he paused, “how’s Sam?”
It was Todd’s turn to smile. “He’s doing real good, actually. He’s happy, healthy. He seems to love Port Charles. We’re all taking real good care of him.” Then, almost wistfully, “You’re lucky to have him for a son.”
Victor nodded. “And Danie is she alright?” he asked, desperate for news. When he saw the hesitation of Todd’s response, he feared the worse. He stood up straight. “Tell me…tell me if there’s something wrong with your daughter.”
Todd had a decision to make. He hoped that this was just a dream and not that he was actually communicating with his brother. If it was, he would be alright. If not, well he’d have time to come up with a better reason for lying. “Danie is fine. She just came up to see me with Viki and Clint. When Tea was taken, she wasn’t there. She’s staying at Llanfair now.” Todd walked over to Victor and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Look, Danie and I, we really haven’t bonded. And although I love, she’s much more your daughter than mine. I was thinking, you should stay your father when you get back.”
Victor snorted. “You mean if I get back. Who knows, maybe I’ll be gone for eight years. That would be poetic justice, wouldn’t you say?”
Todd didn’t answer. “We’ll get you back. Do you have any clue where you could be?”
“I’m seeing things, but it’s unfamiliar,” Victor admitted. “I’ve been in a room most of the time, tied to the bed. That nutcase, Allison Perkins was here with me. She was reading me this story she wrote, based on Viki’s life, where she did say Blair was the love of your life. She mentioned Jessica and Natalie, Tea, Starr. I tried to ignore her, but well, she’s like a cockroach. You can’t seem to kill her,” Victor explained.
“Yeah, we know Allison has you. We saw you on CCTV in the park in Port Charles with her. You looked drugged up and out of it. Jack’s friend actually recognized you,” Todd said.
“Jack’s friend?”
“Yeah, Molly Lansing-Davis, the daughter of the lawyer who got me acquitted of your murder,” came Todd’s answer.
“And how did you get off on my, um…murder?” Victor asked.
Todd flashed his best devilish smile. “I pleaded temporary insanity due to post traumatic stress disorder.” When he didn’t get a response from Victor, he said, “Well, you try spending eight years with out mother, alone, being tortured. I dare you not to lose your mind.” Then Todd got serious. “Look, I don’t know what’s happening, but is there any information you can give me to help? Anything?”
Victor closed his eyes. “Before they started giving me the heavy duty drugs, I remember being moved. I…I think I saw a sign for, New York?”
“Oh, so, your not in Pennsylvania anymore? Well, it’s not like New York is small! Come on, I think I may need more than that!” Todd yelled.
Victor turned around to the entrance to the library. “Did you hear that?” he asked.
“Hear what?” was Todd’s reply.
Victor walked out to the foyer and back out. “I heard a door open.”
Todd shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything,” Todd said as he turned back to the outside entrance to the estate. When he turned back, Victor was gone. “Hey, Victor? Where’d you go?” He ran out to the foyer, but no one was there. “Junior, I swear, if you’re hiding on me…” Todd realized he was alone in the manor. “Great, well I got one clue…he’s in New York.”
Todd’s eyes opened up and he found Blair with her arms wrapped around his chest in bed. He looked at the clock. It read four thirty-two. He closed his eyes, but the memories of what had just happened were fleeing him. Careful not to wake her, he managed to get into his chair and go into the study. He wrote down as much as he could remember. But he asked himself: was it a dream, or had he really been talking to his twin brother.
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