Dance with the Devil: Chapter 54

“John McPain.  I see Bo sent his finest,” Victor smirked when he saw the cop approach the bed.

“Funny.  I see a year away hasn’t dampened your sense of humor.  And actually, Bo didn’t send me.  I’m on loan to the Port Charles Police Department.  This is Anna Devane, the Police Commissioner and an old friend from my FBI days,” John explained.

“Mr. Lord,” came the clipped British accent.  “We came to ask you a few questions about the events that surrounded your …disappearance.  We are conducting a joint investigation with the Llanview PD and any help you can provide would be appreciated,” the woman said.

“I wish I could help, but if you didn’t figure it out, I’ve been missing for a while,” Victor answered.

“Okay, why don’t we start with something you probably would know.  Who shot you?” McBain asked, trying to control his temper.

Victor feigned thinking about it, but, after seeing the look Viki was throwing him, he conceded to an answer.  “Tomas Delgado shot me.”

“Tomas?” John asked incredulously. 

“Yeah.  That much I’m sure of.  He walked into my home and shot me once in the chest.  I was on the phone with Shaun Evans at the time,” Victor retorted, a bit defensively.

Anna could tell there was something else going on from the interplay between the two men beyond the line of questioning being asked, so she decided to step in and take the lead.  “Was Mr. Delgado related to Tea Delgado?”

“Yeah, it was her brother,” John told her.  “He was responsible for kidnapping Todd Manning nine years ago, which started this whole mess.”

Victor realized something.  “You asked ‘was’.  Has something happened to him?”

“Tomas was found dead in the Llantano River right before you were dumped on the side of the road.  One of the theories we have is that whatever is going on may not have anything to do with the Lord family, but instead with the Delgados,” John explained.

Victor shook his head.  “No, it definitely has something to do with me, my family.  Allison Perkins was holding me captive.”  He looked at Viki.  “She’s one nut.  She seems to be obsessed with you, Todd, the whole family.  One of the last clear memories I have is of her…reading me a screenplay based on all the family.”

“What other connections does this Allison Perkins have to your family?” Anna asked. 

It was Viki who answered her.  “She briefly dated a nephew of ours, but then moved onto a cult leader, Mitch Laurence.  When I was pregnant with my daughters, she kidnapped, under orders from him, one of my babies, my daughter Natalie and drugged me to forget about her.  She’s tampered with DNA results of the girls and she recently, after escaping from prison, shot me in my home.”

“Mr. Lord, is the name Heather Webber familiar to you?” came Anna’s next question.

After thinking about it, he shook his head.  “Never heard it before.  Why?”

“We suspect her of shooting your brother Todd.  She also figures into the baby switch involving your son,” Anna explained.  “The night of your son’s birth, he was having difficulties and Todd went looking for help.  He encounter Ms. Webber who tried to revive the baby.  Todd was informed that nothing could be done and a short time later, when another woman, Sam Morgan passed out in a shed with her newborn son, Heather manipulated Todd into believing that Sam was abandoning her baby and that he could take that baby to avoid telling Tea about your son’s death.”

“So, are you looking for this lunatic?” Victor asked, “or is the PCPD as capable as your buddies in Llanview?”

“Victor!” Viki admonished.

“It’s alright,” John said.  “We are doing everything we can, Victor.  But there are a lot of things that don’t add up right now.  Two women with histories of mental illness, in two different towns, at least one baby switch, two shootings and nothing that seems to tie everything together.”

“Mr. Lord, if you can think of anything else, please let us know,” Anna said as she left the room.  “John, are you coming back to the station?”

John looked at Victor.  “I actually need to go over a personal matter with Mr. Lord.  I’ll see you back there soon.”

Viki looked at the two men.  “Maybe I should stay,” she said.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t, Viki.  This is between me and your brother,” John replied. 

Viki looked back at Victor.  “I’ll be fine.  What can he do, put me in a hospital?” Victor asked sarcastically. 

Viki looked back at John.  “I will wait in the hall for you two to be finished and will call security if need be.”  With that she left.

John and Victor stared each other down in silence for a minute.  Then John spoke up.  “You know, I’ve actually come to appreciate your brother lately.  At least he seems to feel guilt when he causes chaos.  You, you revel in it,” John said, pacing the room.  “Take, for example, everything that went down with Tea and her son.  He confessed to it, eventually because he said the guilt was getting to him.”  Then John turned to face Victor.  “You, on the other hand, had a paternity test in your hands and the only way the truth came out about it was because your sister Tina found it and came forward with it.  And get this.  She felt guilty for letting the truth out.”

Victor’s mouth formed an ‘O’.  “So I guess you know about Natalie‘s son.  I’d give you a cigar, but…” Victor laughed. 

It took every ounce of control John had in him to not throttle the patient in the bed.  “How did you get your hands on it?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Marty gave it to me before she got on the plane,” Victor said. 

“So you got it from Marty, then after your ‘death’ it got mixed up in your papers and wound up at your house,” John said.  “Tell me, were you ever going to tell Natalie or I that Liam was mine?”

“Well, in all honesty, after I got my hands on it, I got a little distracted.  You know, brother coming back to town, trying to figure out who the hell I was, getting shot and ‘dying’.  Who the father of my niece’s kid was fell off my radar,” Victor answered, his voice getting rough. 

John could only think of one thing to say.  “I’ll send Natalie your best.  I’m sure she’ll have some words for you.”  John walked out of the room and said to Viki, “That’s some piece of work you’ve got there for a brother.  Make me actually like Manning.”

Jack had been at the counter of Kelly’s for a while when an hand touched his shoulder.  He turned around to see Molly standing there.  “I think we need to talk,” she said.

Jack bit his lower lip and moved to a table.  Before she could say anything, Jack said, “Look, I know what your going to say.  I’m a monster for what I did last year and you never want to talk to me again.  See, it’s real simple.  I’ll just go on and ignore you at school.”  He got up and began to head for the door.

“That’s not what I was going to say at all,” Molly replied, stopping Jack in his tracks.  “Please listen to me.” 

He turned around and sat back down.  “Fine. What do you want to say to me?  I can take it.”

“When I told my mom about you and I being friends, she told me about Shane Morasco and what you did to him.  Because of that, she didn’t want us hanging around.  I told her it wasn’t fair to judge people by their prior actions.  It’s what everyone in town does with my Uncle Sonny, including your sister Starr,” Molly moved closer to him as she continued.  “It was surprising that you told me.  That was why I had the reaction I did when you said it.  Most people would hide or ignore those kinds of thing when they meet new people.”

“My dad said I should be honest, that it was the best way and let those people decide for themselves,” Jack said.  “That was why I told you.”

“Your dad’s pretty smart,” Molly replied, a brilliant smile on her face.

“Not smart, but with years of experience in dealing with secrets and their fallouts,” Jack said, brightening.  “Are we still cool?”

“Yes,” she answered, then kissed him on the lips.  They only stopped when they heard the sound of a throat clearing.  Looking over, they saw Ric Lansing standing in the doorway of the diner.  “Molly, what are you doing?”

“Um, hey Dad,” she said.  “Jack and I were just clearing the air.”

Ric pursed his lips.  He still didn’t like the idea of his daughter hanging out with Jack Manning and it looked like there was more there then just friends.  “Clearing the air about what?” he asked finally.

“My past, Mr. Lansing,” he said as he saw Starr come in.  Michael Corinthos was with her.

“Jack, you ready to go home?” his sister asked.

“Yeah, one minute,” he said.  Turning back to Molly he told her, “I’ll talk with you later.”  With that the Mannings left.

Michael saw the look on Ric’s face and the look Molly had on hers.  “So, how has Jack been doing?” Michael asked his cousin.

Molly could tell Michael knew something and, knowing the relationship her uncle had with her father and how Michael tended to follow Uncle Sonny’s lead, she answered cagily, “He’s doing great.  He really seems to be fitting in well at school.”  She then looked at her watch.  “Oh, I’ve got homework to do!  Can you drive me home?” she asked her cousin.

Michael’s eyes slid to Ric.  “Sure,” he answered.

“Dad, I’ll give you a call tomorrow.  Maybe we can go out to dinner this week,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

When they got out to Michael’s car, she asked him, “Do you know about Jack and Starr’s uncle being found?”

“Yeah, Starr told me about it today.  But also, it’s not public knowledge yet,” Michael said.

“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to remain vague around my dad.  I know he’s Mr. Manning’s lawyer, but there’s something not right about all this,” Molly said.

“What do you mean by that?” Michael asked.

Molly shook her head.  “I don’t know.  It’s just a feeling I get.”

Michael smiled as he drove her home.  That was the thing about his cousin.  She always had a sense of things and they always seemed correct.  He decided to rely on her instinct in any matter relating to Starr, Jack and their family.

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