Anthony couldn’t believe it. Tracy was trying to kill him. He hurried down the trail away from the boathouse. He would have to go see if Johnny would let him stay with him again. Tracy was going to regret her actions. He was looking back at the lake when he barreled into the man.
“What the... this is private property.” Anthony looked at the man standing in his way. It was shadowy in the shelter of the trees and the man’s face was hard to see, but his features looked vaguely familiar. “I know you, don’t I?” He disliked the quiet menace that seemed to be flowing from the man.
“Anthony, I’m hurt. I never thought you would ever forget an old colleague.”
Anthony knew that voice. He looked harder and recognition hit him. “No, you’re supposed to be dead. Everyone said Jason Morgan took you out.”
“Yes, well, everyone was wrong. But I’m afraid you, on the other hand, are going to be quite dead.” Tomas pulled his gun and slowly screwed on the silencer.
“Lorenzo, your brother was one of my partners. What are you doing?” Anthony cautiously began backing up at the sight of the gun.
“There’s the problem. You see, I’m not my brother. You’ve already lived well past your time. You also got greedy and now the original owner wants his territory back. I’m here to set everything straight.”
“Wait,” As Lorenzo’s words penetrated, Anthony realized the error he had made. “You shot out my tires, didn’t you? It was you that night.” He looked around, but the isolation of the area was exactly the reason the Quartermaines had bought this property. There was no one around and no one would hear him if he yelled.
“And they told me you were losing your wits. I’m impressed. Yes, unfortunately, I didn’t expect the other car. It was a shame too. That little girl and her father were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Collateral damage. It’s time to complete my task. This time, you don’t escape.” Tomas looked at his target. “I have to thank you, though. You even made an enemy of your wife and have given me the perfect scapegoat for your death.” Before Anthony could get off a scream, he fired the gun at point-blank range and watched the man fall at his feet.
Tomas had been taking care of this kind of business for a very long time. He moved the body and covered him with leaves. “Don’t worry old man, I’ll make sure your wife gets the blame. After all, she’s been trying to kill you for a while.” He made his way to the boathouse and saw Luke Spencer having a conversation with Anthony’s wife. He got close enough to listen in on their conversation and smiled. Things were getting better and better. Luke had just promised to help Tracy get rid of her husband. He waited until they left the building and headed back toward the house, then he went and retrieved the body and stashed him in the boathouse to be found by his wife. Placing the weapon inside, he left.
The next phase of the plan involved Johnny Zacchara. He pulled his phone out and made his call. “I’ve done my part as ordered. The rest is up to you. Yes, I’m headed back to Llanview, I know the time isn’t right for Lorenzo to make another appearance in Port Charles.” As he finished the call, he looked around. Things were going to get pretty interesting in Port Charles with Anthony dead.
Tomas made a quick call to the police to anonymously report gunfire at the Quartermaine estate. Then he drove downtown to Carly’s hotel and parked hoping to catch a glimpse of Blair. He was still trying to figure out why she had dumped him so suddenly. His eyes narrowed as he saw three people walking toward the entrance to the hotel. Damn! It was as he had feared. Blair was back with Todd. There was no denying the possessive hold that Todd had around Blair’s waist. What was it about the guy, that she kept returning to him? Tomas watched until they disappeared inside. His hands tightened on the steering wheel as he contemplated putting them around Todd’s neck. Tomas put the car in gear. He would have to delay getting back at Todd for the moment. He needed to settle things with Tea and make sure she was okay before he cleared out of Llanview. Todd Manning wasn’t going anywhere.
***
Blair got Starr settled into her rooms at the hotel, then went in search of Todd. He had been rather quiet on the ride back from the courthouse. She found him sitting down in the lobby reading the paper. “Hey, why did you go off and leave us? I could have used your help with Starr.”
Todd looked at her over the top of the paper. “Why? What’s going on with Starr? She’s free now.”
“She told me her manager was very upset when she left LA. She’s afraid he’s going to really go off the deep end when he hears she wants to stay here.”
Todd put the paper down. “What do you mean she wants to stay here? Why?”
“It seems she had a visitor after we left this afternoon before the trial. It was Johnny Zacchara. He offered to buy out her contract with Rick. He said he heard her tape and felt bad because it was his grandfather’s car that hit them and it is the family’s fault that her daughter died.”
“You mean to tell me she’s seriously thinking about taking the guy up on his offer? I thought she was smarter than that.”
“I don’t know why she wants to stay here. But she won’t go back to Llanview and she says the memories of LA are too bittersweet right now.”
“I know where she’s coming from. I can’t go back to Llanview. There are only two people in Llanview that care about me at the moment. You and Sam, I need to get away from there. Starr is here. If she stays here then I guess I’m staying here too. How about it, Blair? We could start over here without all of my baggage.” He looked at her and felt his heart lurch. He saw something in her eyes that told him she was going to turn him down. “No don’t say it, I can see the answer. I should have known it was asking too much of you.”
Blair was stunned by the statement. It hadn’t occurred to her that he wouldn’t come home. “Todd, wait, you just took me by surprise. When did you decide not to go home?”
“After I had a talk with Hallie, I realized I’m never going to get better if I go back to Llanview. I wanted to come home to all of you so bad. I made all these promises to myself that things would be different and I would make better choices. But I didn’t. When I’m there all I see is the man everyone hates. I can’t live like that anymore. I love you and I need you and the boys and Starr. If I go home I’ll ruin it.” He met Blair’s eyes and saw her confusion. She was trying so hard to understand him. Hell, he didn’t understand himself all that much, but for once he felt like he might be headed in a better direction. He had found a little breathing room in this town. The confrontation with Sonny had been the turning point. He hadn’t been in control like that in ages.
Blair was listening but worried. She didn’t know if she was ready for a move. It seemed like such a big step. She had responsibilities in Llanview and she hadn’t even had a chance to talk to Sam or Jack about her changed feelings for Todd. Todd had always been the one who made instant decisions. He had left for Key West and hadn’t looked back. If she hadn’t gone looking for him, he would have stayed there and changed his life. She had often wondered what would have happened if they both had just stayed there after the honeymoon. Of course, back then she had an agenda and staying in Key West would have meant giving up Todd’s inheritance. Now she couldn’t help wondering if he would have been better off never finding out about his parents.
“Todd, I need some time to absorb all this. I came here to help you, but I thought once we got Starr freed, we would have time to sort through things. I just assumed you would come back home.” Even as the words came out of her mouth, she realized her error. “You can’t go home, I see that now. You’re right, Llanview has always been bad for you. I’m not going to give you an answer right now. Please don’t hate me. I love you and I’ll figure this out.” She reached up and touched his face. She could see the hurt and it was tearing her apart. Her only reason for coming had been to help him and now she could tell he felt she was pulling away.
Todd closed his eyes at her touch, then reached up and took her hand. “I won’t pressure you. It’s enough you’re here right now. But I don’t know what will happen if you go. I’m being honest. I’m not sure anymore about my state of mind on a good day.”
Blair realized they needed to move the conversation. “Starr said she was going to take a shower and stay in tonight. Why don’t we go back to the suite? We can order in Chinese and talk.” She got up, moving her hand in such a way to grip his better and pulled him up. They moved to the elevator but were unable to say anymore because of several other people with them on the ride up. Todd hadn’t let go of her hand since taking it down in the lobby. That in itself was a sign he wasn’t in a good place. She was reminded of the night in the cabin when he had begged her not to leave. He had grabbed her hand then and held on for dear life. Why hadn’t she paid more attention? She had stayed because he was so injured. Now she realized Todd’s plea had been about so much more.
When they arrived at the room. Todd went and poured a couple of drinks and she called to order dinner. Afraid to start the topic they had begun in the lobby, he pulled out his laptop and looked up his email, after handing Blair her drink. There was a message from Dr. Collins confirming his appointment the following day. Then he listened as Blair got back on the phone to Llanview. She gave the good news to Addie that Starr had been released. Then she began talking to one of the boys. Todd was trying hard to not show any interest in her conversation, but he was waiting to hear Blair say she was headed home. After he had blurted out he wanted to stay in Port Charles, he had been certain it was only a matter of time before she told him she was leaving. A knock on the door prevented him from hearing the last portion of her call as he went to receive the food that had arrived. He handed a tip to the delivery man and looked back into the room to see Blair had finished her talk and had gone into the kitchenette to find flatware and plates.
“Sam and Momma send their love. They were both pleased to hear Starr wasn’t going to jail.” She was trying to feel out Todd’s mood, he had been so quiet since they had returned to the room.
He looked at her in surprise. “Addie sent her love?”
“She’s been on your side this whole time. Who do you think helped Sam with his letters? She kept telling me you would never hurt me intentionally and that there was more going on. But you know me, I can be stubborn at times. I only saw the obvious. I’m sorry.”
Todd just shook his head. It had never occurred to him that Addie would be on his side. Even Starr had been mad when she found out what he had done to Tomas, but she had been willing to head home from Los Angeles to hear his side of the story. Unfortunately, that fateful trip had cost all of them, sweet little Hope. Suddenly he realized something. “Blair, if Starr is determined to stay here, we’re going to have to tell her about Kate Howard. She needs to know who might be responsible for killing Hope and Cole.”
“We’ve got nothing to really go on. You said Kate thought she was responsible. I don’t think we should tell Starr until we know a little more.”
“You’re probably right. If Kate has DID it’s going to come out pretty soon. She was pretty distraught at the station. I’m guessing Kate won’t be able to live with it any more than Viki was able to live with the fact that Tory killed Victor.” It had been quite a shock to find out about Tory’s role in Victor’s death and an even bigger shock to both him and Viki when the old man had turned up alive in 2003. Todd got up and went to get a second drink. Victor’s resurrection was the start of his eight long years in hell and a memory he wished he could forget. He gulped down the drink and poured a third. Everything always led back to Irene.
Blair had seen Todd’s face at the mention of Victor and quickly put two and two together. If he was thinking of Victor. It was only going to lead to one other person, Irene. Todd’s biological father had been a monster. He had refused to acknowledge his son. Todd’s mother had then taken matters into her own hands and turned Todd over to her cousin, Peter Manning, and his life had gone downhill from that moment on. The final blow was finding out the mother he thought loved him, was the very one who imprisoned and tortured him. Not satisfied with torturing him all those years, she had finally proclaimed that she had killed all his loved ones and had attempted to kill him herself. Although injured, he had fought back and killed her instead.
Blair got up and went to him. “Todd, don’t think about her. She’s not worth it.”
Todd smiled sadly. “I wish it were that easy, Blair. I’ve been trying to forget her but she won’t let go.” He walked back to where the food was and picked up a fortune cookie.
The first step to happiness is always the one most feared.
He sat down abruptly and began to laugh. The day couldn’t get any weirder.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.
I hope the doctor can help Todd.
ReplyDelete