“Do you want me to throw away your old phone?” the associate asked, reaching for the damaged phone.
“No, that will be unnecessary. I still need this phone.” Todd left the store and opened his new phone. A few minutes later, another limo picked him up.
Todd entered the Port Charles Police Department and went up to the police officer behind the counter. “I’d like to speak to someone in charge of investigations?”
From behind him came a voice. “Can’t you stay out of trouble, Manning?”
Todd hadn’t expected to hear that voice. He turned, “John McBain, you’re a little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be home taking care of my niece and that baby of yours.”
“I’m on temporary assignment here with the FBI. So this is where you disappeared to after your verdict came in.” John looked Manning over and frowned. For someone who had beat the rap for killing his brother, he didn’t seem too happy. “What brought you back here?”
“My daughter. She got into a spot of trouble, but things are better. You know how it is. I told you from the beginning, I came home for my family. Starr needed me, so I came here.” Todd didn’t want to get into a conversation with John at that moment. It just brought all his troubles that much closer and he needed to keep his thoughts on the person trying to kill him. “Look, I’m not up to exchanging pleasantries with another fellow Llanviewite right now. I’m here to report a crime.”
“If you’ve got something to report, you can tell me. I’ll pass it along.” John was curious, what Manning was involved in now. Trouble just seemed to follow the guy.
“Leave me alone John, your kind of help I don’t need. I know I handled things badly in Llanview and you had every right to bring me in, but I can’t forgive you for doing it the way you did. I knew my time was short, but God, Blair and I had just gotten back together. Couldn’t you have waited until the next morning to pick me up? I told you at the police station after Victor died, I had no intentions of going anywhere.” Todd moved to go around John and find an officer to talk to.
John stopped him, grabbing his arm. “I’m sorry, but I had no choice. Tea and Tomas wanted your head on a silver platter. If I had delayed, he would have come after you with guns blazing. I was trying to save your life.”
Todd shook off his hand. “Thanks for nothing. It seems someone else has it out for me. Who knows, maybe this person will succeed.” He looked over and spotted a detective coming in. “Hey you, Falcon..whatever. I want to report an attempted murder. Someone tried to kill me this afternoon.”
Dante Falconeri stopped at his words. “Who are you and when did this happen?”
Ignoring McBain, Todd walked over to the detective. “I’m Todd Manning and it happened just after 2:00 this afternoon, down on the docks. Someone tried to shoot me.”
“How do you know someone was shooting at you? You weren’t hit, that’s obvious.” Dante didn’t see any wounds and the man appeared fine.
“The first shot would have taken off my head but for dumb luck. As it was, the bullet nicked my ear and blasted my cell phone out of my hand.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the remains. “It took a pretty hard hit. The bullet ricocheted off the battery judging by the dent. If I hadn’t been reaching down for the phone, his second shot would have finished the job. That’s when I realized what was happening and barely made it to cover before the third shot hit the building beside me.”
“How do you know they were bullets? We had no reports of gunfire today.”
“Seriously, do you think I’m making this up? I know when I’m being shot at. I can show you where the other two bullets ended up unless the shooter removed them.” Todd couldn’t believe it. He had thought there was a possibility these cops might have had a few smart ones working for them, but this department seemed as inept as Bo’s bunch.
John had been listening. “What makes you think the shooter would remove them?”
“Whoever took those shots was a pro. He also used a silencer. He wanted me dead and I’m guessing he’s the type that won’t leave any evidence around. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling he’ll try again.” Todd explained.
Dante scowled at John. “Stay out of this, McBain. You’re here because you’ve got the FBI leverage, but this is none of your business.” Dante looked back at Todd. “Why would a professional hitman be after you?”
“Hell, if I know. Maybe he’s working for Corinthos. Possibly my mother’s organization might still want me dead. I’m not a detective, that’s your job. I just want to know what you’re going to do about it.”
“We’ll check out your story. Could you be more precise as to where on the docks the shots were fired?” Dante proceeded to grab his gun out of his desk and stood waiting for an answer.
“I was at the area where a launch takes off for an island that’s close by. Not sure of the name of the island.”
“That sounds like Spoon Island. Give me your cell phone. It might tell us something.”
“What, it’s trash now?”
“You said the battery took a hit. Forensics might get something off of it. You never know. In the meantime, stay here. Give your information to the desk sergeant. I want a full account of what happened. After I check this out, you can go.” Dante left after giving instructions to the sergeant.
Todd looked around, then went and planted himself in the detective’s chair. The sergeant settled at a desk close by. “Sir, I need your name and story anytime you’re ready.”
John listened in as Todd told his complete story. He noted that Todd was playing with the officer. He was constantly mishearing the questions or answering in Todd-speak. Todd’s lack of respect for the law hadn’t changed much. “Manning, just give him his answers, you’ll be back on the street soon enough.”
Todd grimaced and finished telling his story. He gave his cell phone to the officer and looked back at McBain. “Who are you after and how come the FBI sanctioned you again? No, wait, let me guess. You’re here for Corinthos.”
“Don’t worry about why I’m here, it has nothing to do with you. Seems to me you better be watching your back.” McBain said, cooly.
“Did I stumble on something I shouldn’t have? I noticed the tension between you and Corinthos back in March. Previous acquaintance, I take it. Whatever went down between you, must have been pretty serious to warrant you getting special permission to be here? Be careful John. Revenge isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Todd’s thoughts drifted back to Victor and he felt that imperceptible weight tugging at him again.
John was about to tell Todd to shut up when he realized Todd no longer seemed to have any interest in the conversation. The guy was in his own little world, obviously thinking about something else entirely. After everything that happened, he still wasn’t able to get a handle on Todd Manning, version one.
The night he had interrupted Blair and Todd’s reunion, he had thought Todd might come completely unglued. Instead, he had gone out of his way to get the officers and John out of Blair’s room. He hadn’t even said anything to Blair; he just reached up, cupped her face in his hand, rose, and left. It had all been weird. When they had arrived at the station, Tomas and Tea had been waiting for them. Todd again said nothing, he let Tea rage at him and the officers had to pull her away. Blair had arrived shortly thereafter. Seeing Tomas and hearing his story, she had turned and walked out of the station without a backward glance at Todd. John had been baffled by Todd’s demeanor that night. Knowing the guy had deliberately kidnapped Tomas and then framed him for the murder of Victor, he had expected to see some of his arrogance and hear some of his snark. Instead, it was as if he just shut down. John had at first thought the PTSD was a ruse but now that he had time to think about things, he was beginning to wonder.
Dante came back into the squad room. “We did a complete search of the dock area you talked about and there were definite signs of the recent shots you described. Unfortunately, you were also right about another thing. The man who shot at you is a pro. The bullets were dug out.” Todd started to speak, but Dante stopped him. “He did make a mistake, though. The bullet that hit your cell phone never hit a wall. We found a bullet burrowed into the deck. There appears to be blood on it. We just need a sample from you to confirm if it’s the bullet that hit you.”
Todd reached up and tore the bandage off his ear. “That’s all you’re going to get,” he placed his handkerchief against the ear and pulled the box out of his pocket. “I’m not going near a syringe,” he muttered to himself as he opened a new bandage and covered his ear again.
Dante looked at Todd curiously as he carefully bagged the bandage. “I’ve sent a forensics team to the dock to determine where the shots were fired from. You really have no idea who might want you dead?”
“None. I’ve only been in town for about a week. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to make any enemies.”
“Yet you mentioned Sonny Corinthos earlier. Why is that?”
“Let’s just say Sonny and I have had a few words about his involvement with my granddaughter’s death. Not to mention, my daughter was just accused recently of trying to kill him. It’s not a stretch to consider him an enemy.” Todd stood up. “If that bullet you found matches my blood type, it will prove someone is out to get me. What are you going to do then?”
“We can offer you some protection but it would help if we knew who was after you.”
“If I knew who was after me, I’d take care of it myself. Thanks for nothing.” He started to leave.
“Manning, wait.” McBain walked toward him with a vest in his hand. “For the time being, you might want to start wearing this.”
Todd shook his head. “It won’t do any good. He’s aiming at my head.” At that, he walked out. John watched him go. He had seen that look in Todd again as he had left. That shutting down. Resignation, that’s what it was. Todd was resigned. Why?
Todd called for a limo and stayed inside until it arrived. He dropped down on the seat and reached for the complimentary bar. He poured himself a drink and took a big swallow. He felt the burn as it went down. He had waited a long time for that stiff drink.
So much had happened since he had asked his advisors to buy the property that morning. Blair hadn’t been too happy with the choice he had made. Now he had to talk to her. Her decision was crucial to him, more so than she probably realized.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.
Tomas???
ReplyDelete