Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 20

    Todd walked into the suite. “Blair, are you here?”  He spotted a note and opened it.

    Down at Pool. Take it easy, or come down and join me

    Todd dropped the note back down and took off his jacket.  It was tempting to join Blair, but he knew he couldn’t take the admiring glances she was probably getting from the other men that might be down there.  He opened the liquor decanter and poured another drink.   Going to his jacket, he pulled out the bandages and took them into the bathroom.  Carly still hadn’t had a chance to replace the mirror.  He stood there, taking in his scar and wondering just how many more hidden scars he would have to bear.

     He set the bandages down and began to empty his pockets, coming across Dr. Collins’ card.  His thoughts wandered back to waking up on the gurney.  He hadn’t felt the need to escape like that since he had left the compound.  It was a little disconcerting that it had happened after one of his episodes.  The doctors had warned him, he might start having flashbacks to events that happened in the compound.  He just couldn’t figure out why it had taken this long for them to start showing up and why Irene’s visits had increased.  He turned the card over in his hand remembering those moments on the dock.  He would never have called Blair if his cell phone hadn’t alerted him to her messages.  Strangely, making that call had saved him in more ways than one.  She had stopped him from ending it all and she had inadvertently saved his life from the shooter also.

     He suddenly found himself afraid to stay in the room alone. He didn’t think he could take another unwanted visit from Irene.  Todd headed for the elevator that would take him down to the lounge.  He pushed the lobby floor and went back to flipping the card in his hand.  There was a cold draft across the back of his neck and he looked behind him, fearing Irene was standing there then realized the vent in the elevator had just come on.  Now you’re starting to spook yourself.  Get a grip.  The door opened and he crossed over to the lounge where he spotted Carly and her boyfriend Johnny Zacchara talking.

     “Hey Zacchara, I don’t care how guilty you feel about your family’s part in my granddaughter’s death, I’d like to know why you decided to get in my daughter’s business. She told me what you offered her.  I’ll buy her contract from you.  I don’t like the idea of her owing someone connected to the mob,” Todd said as he interrupted their talk.

     Johnny looked up.  “So, you’re Starr’s dad.  Your background isn’t squeaky clean from what I’ve heard and I’m out of the family ‘business.’  I’m trying to start fresh with a new club and Starr is an excellent singer.  I’d like to back her and get her that recording contract she wants.  It’s good business.  She already agreed and she’s old enough to make her own decisions.  You should take it up with her, but we’re both happy with the arrangement and I’m not selling her contract.”

    “You’re just taking advantage of a vulnerable girl who just lost her child and isn’t thinking clearly.  If you really wanted to help her, you’d leave her alone.”

    Carly jumped in to defend Johnny.  “Johnny’s trying to change.  What’s the problem with him helping Starr?  They can help each other.  You should step back and give your daughter some room, or you’re going to push her away.”

     Todd looked at her in disbelief.  “I can’t believe you’re sitting here with him much less siding with him.  Didn’t you tell me he cheated on you with Sonny’s girlfriend?  Now, to top it all off, that same girlfriend appears to be sick.  How can you forgive a guy like that?”

     Carly stood up.  “The same way Blair forgives you.  Don’t continue this, Todd, or I’ll ask you to leave.”

     “You would kick me out of your hotel, because of your boyfriend?  Not a very good business move.”  He still didn’t have all of his eggs in one basket yet and needed a place to stay, so he held up his hands in surrender.  “Fine, he’s your mistake.”  Turning back to Johnny, he said, “You’re hiding something, that’s why you’re on this kick to better yourself.  You’re running from it.  I can see it in your eyes and it better not hurt my daughter.”  Before either of them could comment further, he walked away to the bar.

      He ordered another drink.  Carly had struck home with her comment about Blair.  She had no idea just how grateful he was that Blair had forgiven him.  Still, when he looked at Zacchara, he saw someone who was just like him.  That worried him.  He just felt uneasy about Starr’s business arrangement.  He was helpless to do anything about it and he hated feeling that way.  He had managed to get Starr out of trouble but was having little success with his own problems.  In fact, they were escalating.  Blair was his saving grace, but he couldn’t keep her with him constantly.  His mood turned darker as he sat there, aided by the liquor he was consuming. He was getting ready to order another when a lovely hand grabbed his wrist.

      “Hey, you started without me.”  She kissed his cheek and slid into the chair next to him. “What’s going on, Todd?  I thought you would be in the room.  Carly just waylaid me and told me you were in Johnny Zacchara’s face earlier.”

      “Don’t go there Blair, I’m not in the mood to talk about it.”  He turned to her suddenly. “ I need to know where we stand.  You came here to be with me.  You said you would help me.   Was that the truth, or will you only help me if I go home to Llanview?”

      Blair was caught off guard.  She had hoped to have this conversation after dinner, but Todd had other thoughts.

     “I’ve got to go home.  I can’t make a decision without talking to the boys.” Blair watched as he looked at her bleakly and turned back to the bartender. The last time he had been this surly was when he found out he was Victor Lord’s bastard son.  “Why are you doing this?  What happened today that you need an answer right now?”  He took another quick drink and she began to get worried.  “I did mean it when I said I would help you, and I understand why you don’t want to live in Llanview.  When I came, it was a spur of the moment decision. I wasn’t sure of my feelings, but I knew I had to see you.  Todd, please listen to me.  Just give me time to figure this all out.  It’s so sudden.”

      Todd’s mood was getting blacker by the moment.  He had opened himself up to this pain because he had just wanted to be with her.  It wasn’t fair of him to pressure her but having her back in his life these last couple of days had been wonderful.  He didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was but he knew if she left, Irene was going to finally win.  “You should go then.  I don’t have any right to ask you to stay.  We’re not married anymore.”  He pulled a fifty out and tossed it on the bar.  Resigned he said, “You take all the time in the world to figure this out, Babe, I hope I get to hear the outcome.”  He walked out of the lounge and headed for the elevator.

      Blair stared after him.  She was stunned.  He had never answered her question about the day and that in itself was scary.  That sick feeling she had when something bad was about to happen struck with a vengeance.  Seventeen years before she had let him leave for Ireland even though everything in her told her to make him stay home.  It had been the worse decision she had ever made.  Was she making the right decision now?  She wasn’t going to Ireland, she was just going home to talk to the boys and figure out all the ramifications involved with moving all of them to Port Charles.  People moved all the time.  She just wanted to be sure this move would work for all of them.  She could come to Port Charles on the weekends for a while until everything was arranged.  It wasn’t the end of the world.  She had to make him see that.  Blair got up and made her way back to the suite.  She walked in expecting to see Todd.  Instead, the room was empty.  “Where did you go, Todd?”

       Todd opened the door to the roof and stepped out.  The fresh air hit him and he got a little dizzy.  “Too much to drink, Manning.  You don’t hold your liquor the way you used to.”  There was something to be said for being on top of the world.  The sun was setting and he could see the water from the lake glistening in the fading sun.  From here it looked so calm. For a moment he was back on the dock, looking at it.  He looked away and surveyed the town spread out in front of him.   He was pretty high up.   There were no windows between him and the view.  In a way, he missed the Penthouse.  When the verdict came in, Todd couldn’t bring himself to return to Viki’s.  The Penthouse wasn’t his anymore so his options were limited.  He had gone back to the Minute Man Motel.  He had been settled there for less than a day when he got a call from his only friend.  When he got the word about Starr from little Sam, he headed for Port Charles.

        Todd spotted a chair and plopped into it.   He couldn’t go back to the room yet.  He didn’t want to see Blair and know she was going.  How had his life become so fucked up?  If he was the superstitious type, he would have put the blame originally on that stupid broken mirror, during his gold balloon wedding to Blair.  But he knew he was the true reason everything bad kept happening.  He had been born under a curse named Victor Lord Sr. and raised by the devil himself, Peter Manning.  He had believed that at least his two mothers loved him, but it turned out his real mother came in a close second to Peter.  Todd began to cry, the pain of everything that had transpired since his escape crashing in on him.

       Blair was frantic.  She had been calling Todd’s cell every ten minutes or so and he wasn’t responding.  Starr hadn’t seen him and Carly said he hadn’t been back to the lounge. There was a knock at the door. “Todd, where have you been? If you lost your card, Carly would have given....” She opened the door and found herself facing John McBain.

     “Blair, I was looking for Todd.  I didn’t know you were in town.”

     “He’s not here, haven’t you caused him enough grief. Why are you hounding him?”

    “Whoa.  I was just checking to make sure he got back from the police station earlier.”

    “Why was he at the police station?  What is it with you guys?” Blair was seriously worried.  Todd was nowhere to be found and the police were looking for him. “I saw him earlier down in the lounge, but I haven’t seen him since.  I don’t understand John, I thought you were up here on assignment for the FBI.  What does Todd have to do with what you’re working on?”

     “He doesn’t.  This is a separate issue.  Something happened this afternoon, I’m just  following up on it.”  John could tell from Blair’s face, something was bothering her.  “Could I come in for a minute?  You said Todd’s not here.  Do you know where he might be?”  He walked over to her. “Talk to me, I can see you’re worried.  I thought you had washed your hands of Todd.”

     Blair knew John had always been someone she could trust and maybe he could help if he knew what she had found out. She walked over to the window. “I had.  Then the trial began and I sat there listening to all the evidence.  It didn’t make sense to me what Todd had done.  Why did he protest so vigorously right after Victor was shot that he didn’t do it?  He told you about the gun and then insisted you find it.  After he was shot by Irene, he told me she had thrown it in the river.  His only chance to prove himself innocent was in the river.  John, he truly believed he didn’t kill Victor.”  She met John’s eyes, trying to get him to understand.

      “After he turned himself into Bo, everything changed.”  Blair stopped.  John didn’t need to know about Irene.”You know all the rest.  The gun turned up and he framed Tomas with it.  He never intended to harm Tomas, he just wanted him out of the way so he could get back together with me.  He just wasn’t thinking clearly.  I’m beginning to believe he hasn’t been thinking clearly for a very long time.  The doctors said Todd had PTSD from his ordeal in Irene’s hands.  When I heard that it got me thinking.   What if it were true?   Had there been signs we all missed?  I had to come here and find out.”  Blair had been looking out the window while she talked but now she turned to face John.

      “John, he’s not well.  Irene did a real number on him.  Things I’ve seen since arriving here have convinced me the PTSD is very real.  Except for Addie, everyone in Llanview believes I came here to help Starr, but the truth is, I came here for Todd.  I love him, and he needs me.”

      John had been listening quietly.  He recalled how he believed Todd right after Victor’s shooting, even though he was the best suspect.  Blair was right, there were a lot of inconsistencies coming to light he hadn’t seen before.  Manning was free because of his diagnosis but could it be possible, he hadn’t shot Victor.  It didn’t really matter right at the moment.  Manning had another problem to worry about right now.  “I don’t know what to say, Blair.  You know him better than me.  I’ll admit I still haven’t figured out the man.  What he did to Tomas was out there, but you’re right, he didn’t try and kill him.  When I arrived, you thought I was Todd, how long has he been missing?”

     “It’s only been a few hours, but he’s not himself.  When he left the lounge, he was very depressed.  I’m afraid of what he might do.  What happened today at the police station?  He didn’t say anything about that.  Why was he there?” John just looked at her.   She had seen that face before.  Something bad had occurred and he wasn’t sure she needed to know it.  “Please tell me.  It might explain his behavior in the lounge.”

     “Someone tried to kill Todd today.”

     “What?  When?”  There it was again, that sense of dread she had felt earlier. Then she remembered the bandage on Todd’s ear. “It happened around two this afternoon, didn’t it?”

     “That’s right.   How did you know?  From your initial reaction, Todd didn’t tell you about it.”

     “No he didn’t, but I was talking to him at that time and he said he’d come to meet us for lunch.  He arrived late.  Where did it happen?” Blair had a sick feeling she knew exactly where it took place.

      “Down at the docks.  It appears someone fired on him from the lake.”

        Blair reeled, “Oh God, I knew it. That’s why he wanted the answer tonight. Todd, where are you?”  Blair turned back to the window, looking out at the darkness, fear filling her.  Had she already lost him?




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