Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 6

           Hallie ate at a leisurely pace, intrigued as always by Todd Manning’s unusual eating habits. She had wondered for some time if they had fed him properly during those eight years. He ate as if there wasn’t another meal ahead of him. The other strange thing about this meal was that he seemed different. Even though he had mentioned Irene earlier, he actually was in pretty high spirits. “Care to enlighten me why you’re so happy?”

         “What do you mean?” Todd stuffed the last of his sandwich in his mouth and looked at her quizzically.

           “The last time I saw you this way was in ‘94 when Hank Gannon had to tell the judge he was dropping the charges against you. It was the only time I saw you so upbeat. You’ve been one seriously Grumpy Gus since I started working for you.”

             “With good reason, “ Todd stated, picking up his drink and taking a gulp. “ My life hasn’t been a picnic lately.”

              “I agree, that’s why this mood of yours is puzzling. You just got through telling me Irene is still popping in and out. Yet for some reason, that fact doesn’t seem to be bothering you so much today. What happened?”

              “Blair happened. She’s here in Port Charles.” He finished his last gulp of scotch and set the glass down with a thump.

               Hallie looked at him in surprise. “We’re talking about your ex-wife, right? She hates you almost as much as Victor’s wife, Tea, does.”

               “No, she doesn’t. She never hated me. She was just mad at me for lying to her.”

               “Right. I distinctly remember some serious anger coming from the woman when the verdict came in. Didn’t she call your doctors, liars too?” Blair’s response had cut Todd to the quick that day. “I don’t think you should expect too much of a change in her just because she’s in Port Charles. She’s probably here for the same reason you are, Starr.”

                Todd smiled. “I know exactly why she’s here. I found out last night. We’re getting back together.” Hallie’s face was priceless. He watched as the shock wore off and then saw concern come into her eyes. Damn, she’s worried you’ve cracked. “Relax, I’m not delusional at the moment. It’s the truth. Now let me fill you in on Starr’s situation and then we can go to the police station.”

                Hallie took a sip of her water and watched him closely, he did seem alright. “Okay, Todd, whatever you say. If it’s true, I’m glad for you. But just because she’s here doesn’t mean you can forget about the court-ordered therapy. I’m your lawyer first, it’s my job to make sure you adhere to that order. Now about Starr, it’s my understanding she’s being held for attempted murder. Who did she try to kill?”

               “She didn’t try to kill anyone. She was just upset. The man she was convinced was responsible for the death of her boyfriend and daughter had just been found not guilty. She just lost it for a little bit. Surely if I can be found not guilty by reason of insanity, there has to be some reason Starr can be excused for her loss of judgment.”

              “It sounds like we might have a case. We should probably go see her. I’ll know where we stand after I talk to her and get the report from the police.” Hallie got up as Todd paid the bill then they headed out.

              ***

             Tomas looked at his cell phone. “Dani, you stay here with your mom, I need to take this call.” He walked out into the hospital corridor. “What did you find out?”

              “It was as you surmised. Ms. Cramer headed for Port Charles. She checked into the Metro Court hotel and then made a beeline for the police station. I didn’t stick around to see how long she remained, but as her daughter was denied bail. I’m sure the woman probably was a thorn in their side for most of the evening.”

              “Calmar, do you know if she saw Todd Manning last night.”

               “I saw him leave the police station shortly after her arrival and he was alone. I doubt he’s even aware she’s in town. My dear Tomas, I trust you’re not going to do anything foolish, with regards to Ms. Cramer.”

              “Don’t worry. I won’t. For now, I have to deal with my sister. I’ll be in touch.” Tomas hung up and walked down the hall away from Tea’s room. Blair had broken things off with him rather suddenly and he had been afraid she had done so for a reason. It couldn’t be Todd. She was furious at the outcome of his trial. Tomas shook his head. He had worked too long and hard to see the guy discredited even by his family. No one who knew Todd believed his story and they all thought his doctors had concocted the PTSD. That’s why he was surprised at Blair’s actions following the trial. The only good thing about Calmar’s news was that she appeared to be in Port Charles intent on seeing Starr. Hopefully, she would steer clear of Todd.

             He turned and headed back to Tea’s room. She was heartbroken over the loss of her baby. He wanted to make sure she stayed angry at her ex., too. As far as he was concerned, neither of the Mannings were good enough for his sister. It had been so easy to make her turn on Todd and believe that he had killed Victor, she had been halfway there anyway. In fact, that part of his plan had gone flawlessly. He hadn’t foreseen the jury believing the doctors, though. The plan had called for Todd to be put in jail and that wasn’t going to happen now. Instead, he had been court-ordered into therapy. Tomas had to find a way to derail that. He knew from Todd’s history, that the guy hated therapy. If Manning got therapy everything would fall apart. Tomas shelved his thoughts as he neared his sister’s room. It was time to concentrate on Tea for a little bit.

              When he entered the room, Tea was awake and being consoled by Dani. There was his other problem. Something about Dani’s paternity didn’t ring true. There was no way his lovely niece had any part of Todd Manning in her. His sister could be quite ruthless when she wanted something bad enough. Somehow she had manipulated Victor into believing Dani was Todd’s because she had been obsessed with him. You did something, didn’t you Pajarito? It was time to find out what.

             ***

             Starr was still chatting with her mom when the guard came.

             “Your lawyer is here.  Ma’am, you’ll have to leave.” He said to Blair.

             Starr saw her mom shudder at the word 'ma’am'.  It always made her feel old. “Will I see you upstairs, Mom?”

             “If they’ll let me, I’ll be there. I’ll go see what they say. Your father’s lawyer is good. I don’t think you’ll be here much longer.” Blair left and headed upstairs to find someone to help her.

              Starr wondered what her father’s lawyer was like. She kept imagining this fast-talking high priced lawyer who had probably taken her father’s case for the publicity. Nothing could have prepared her for Hallie Mitchell.

            The officer opened the door to the conference room and she saw an attractive mature woman in conversation with her father. That in itself was a surprise. Her dad usually avoided talking to his lawyers unless he was telling them what to do.  At the sound of the door closing, they turned toward her.

           Todd walked over to his daughter and gave her a quick hug. Starr was even more surprised at that. Her dad had definitely changed since his captivity when it came to showing how he felt. “Starr, I’d like you to meet Hallie Mitchell. She’s going to get you out of this mess.”

           “Dad, you’re jumping the gun again.” She turned her eyes to Hallie. “Hello.”

            Hallie looked at Todd with a hint of exasperation, and when she met Starr’s eyes she saw that the girl was also very aware of her father’s impulsive tendencies. “Hello, I’m definitely going to try and do what your father just said. He told me his version of your story, now I’d like to hear yours. Why don’t you fill me in on just what happened that night?” She gestured to the chairs and they all took their seats.

           Todd was fidgeting and looking toward the door like he had expected to find someone else with Starr. He didn’t want to leave Starr as she told her story, but at the same time, he kept wondering where Blair had gotten off too.

           Starr turned to her father. “Dad, what’s gotten into you? I’m going to be alright. What are you so nervous about?”

          Todd brought his attention back to Starr and Hallie. He saw Hallie’s speculative glance. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about me, just tell Hallie what happened.” Although he liked Hallie a lot, she had gotten to know him a lot over the last few months and had gotten pretty good at reading his moods. Lunch today was a great example of that. He hadn’t realized how much having Blair back his life had changed him until Hallie brought it up. Even though Irene still wouldn’t let him go, Blair had managed to dispel some of the gloom he felt whenever she appeared. He had hoped to run into Blair but she must have had another errand to run. Now he listened as Starr told the whole story. He was alarmed when he found out how she got the gun in the first place. What kind of idiot leaves a loaded gun lying around? “Are you saying you just took Johnny Zacchara’s gun right out from under his nose? Isn’t that the guy who Sonny threatened the night Hope and Cole died. It was his grandfather that hit you. Why the hell were you even talking to that guy?”

              “Dad, don’t blame Johnny. I went there to talk to him because Michael said Johnny could have been the one who shot out his grandfather’s tires and was trying to frame Sonny. When I met him, he just didn’t come across to me as a killer. I don’t know, I just kept coming back to his grandfather telling me Sonny did it. I spotted the gun and the rest you know.”

               Hallie spoke up before the father and daughter got too involved in defending their points of view. “Let’s not concern ourselves at this time with how she got the gun. It’s more important to dwell on what she did after she got it. Now, Starr, if I understand everything you told me. You were heartbroken over the death of your child. You felt cheated because the man you thought killed Hope and Cole got acquitted, so you went after him yourself. You didn’t kill him because his son stopped you and talked you out of it. When he did that, did you still plan to take revenge?”

             Starr looked at her in horror. “No, I realized I couldn’t take another person’s life that way or any way. It hurts knowing my baby died and her killer is still out there, but I won’t go near Mr. Corinthos again.”

                Hallie nodded,” Okay, I got the gist of the story now. I’ll have a chat with the prosecuting attorney, I’m sure we can resolve this. I don’t think The State of New York really wants to send a young woman, who just lost her daughter, to prison for a lapse in judgment. It could get costly and the sympathy vote would definitely be in Starr’s favor. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go do my job.”

Starr turned to her dad. “She’s not what I expected. Where did you find her?”

“She was my court-appointed lawyer. Seems the rest of the lawyers didn’t want the notoriety and were afraid they would lose if they took my case. Hallie was a surprise, but the minute I saw her I knew she would help.” It was hard to describe the relief he had felt when Hallie walked into that room in Llanview. For one, she had really listened to his whole story without passing judgment and then had been proactive. “She’s the one who suggested I be seen by several doctors. You know me, I hate doctors but in this case, Hallie was right. I’m more messed up than even I realized.” Todd ran his fingers through his hair and looked away from Starr. He didn’t want her to think of him as weak but now with the verdict and the court order, it was public knowledge he had a problem.

Starr walked over to her dad and gave him a hug. “I think we should apologize to you. You told us what your mother did to you and we all dismissed it. We acted like you had been on an extended vacation and had come back the same man you were when you left. That was wrong. If we had paid more attention, you might not have killed Uncle Victor.”

Todd hugged his daughter back. “About that, I know I was tried for his death and I still have an image of me shooting a gun and him falling, but I also have a lot of unanswered questions about that night.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get help and those questions will be cleared up.”

Blair had arrived and was standing in the door listening. “She’s right you know. Once you start seeing a therapist, I’m sure you’ll get those blank spots filled in.”

Starr and Todd looked over in surprise and Starr went to her mother. “I didn’t think I’d see you anymore today. I figured I’d be headed back to my cell right now.”

“I had a chat with the Commissioner and he gave me permission to see you in here before removing you to your cell.” Blair wrapped her arms around her daughter. “You shouldn’t be in here at all, but since you’re your father’s daughter, I guess I shouldn’t let it bother me.” She saw Todd wince and regretted her words instantly.

He had been so looking forward to seeing her, but he wasn’t prepared for her words to Starr. He thought she had forgiven him, but now he was unsure again. “Blair, I’m sorry. I know my actions..” he was stopped from commenting further by Blair’s kiss.

Blair had released Starr and gone to Todd the instant she realized how her words had hurt him. “I’m the one who’s sorry.” She touched his face gently after the kiss and saw the look of relief in his eyes.

Starr watched the whole thing and was shocked. “Wait a minute. What’s going on? You told me you had forgiven Dad, but I never expected this.”

“Umm, yes well, your dad and I came to an understanding last night. We’re back together,” said Blair blushing, turning back to her daughter, as Todd’s arm wrapped around her possessively.

Todd was overjoyed. Blair had come right out and told Starr. She wasn’t going to hide it. He felt calmer than he had in ages. His daughter had forgiven him and wanted to help him and Blair wanted him back. This day had definitely hit a high point. Now they just needed to get Starr out of her mess then they could all sit down and figure out who had really killed Hope and Cole.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.