The Devil You Know: Chapter 3

Blair sat at the restaurant waiting for Cassie and Andrew when Carly caught her attention.  She waved at her friend and watched  her come over.

“Meeting someone for lunch?” Carly asked.

“Yes, my cousin and her ex-husband are stopping in town to visit before they go to New York to see their son, then they’ll be heading to Llanview to visit some more.  Andrew’s also going to be officiating the wedding of Todd’s sister,” Blair explained.

“I can tell you’re close to her,” Carly stated, a bit of envy creeping into her voice. 

“Yes, her mother, my Aunt Dorian, made sure we all, Cassie and her sister Adrianna, my cousin Kelly and Dorian’s foster daughter Langston, remained tight-knit, despite lots of conflicts we’ve all had over the years,” Blair told her.  “Todd calls us all the Crazy Cramer Coven, but then again, Todd has no room to speak about crazy families.”  It was then that Blair noticed someone behind her and waved them over.  A dark-haired woman and a man in a priest’s collar embraced her as Blair introduced her friend to the couple.  Carly shook their hands before leaving them.

“Blair, it’s so wonderful to see you!  It’s been so long!” Cassie exclaimed.

“Yes, it has been,” Blair agreed.

“How has everything been lately for you?  Mother told me about the shooting and Victor Lord, Junior‘s return,” her cousin continued.  “How has Todd been?”

“You know me, Cassie, I always bounce back,” Todd’s voice could be heard from behind.  When Cassie turned around, she was met with the man she had known for all these years.  His face had changed little and, by the comment he had just made, she could tell the attitude was still the same as well.

Blair gave him a look and he merely smirked at her.  Then he bent down, giving Cassie a peck on the cheek before shaking Andrew’s hand and taking his seat.  “Todd, you said you’d behave,” she cautioned him.

“What?” he asked, befuddled.  “This is me behaving.”  Todd sat down and they proceeded with lunch.  All manner of topics came up, from Senator Dorian to Starr’s musical career. 

As the meal was winding down, Andrew brought up the Buchanan wedding.  “I spoke to Viki and Clint about it a few days ago.  She had said they want it small, just the family and some friends.  But before we arrived, I got a call from Tina.”

Todd let out a loud groan.  “She’s started already?” he grunted.  When Blair and Cassie gave him a look, he went on to explain.  “The call Viki wanted me in on this morning with Tina, well she asked her to be her matron of honor.”

“Well that is sweet of Viki to asked her sister,” Cassie commented, Blair nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, but I knew the minute she left my office, Tina would take over the whole thing.”  Todd looked at hiss watch.  “That’s fast work, even for her.”

Cassie threw Blair a long suffering look and she and Andrew, noticing the time, excused themselves.  They had be down in New York City for dinner with River that evening and needed to be on the road.  Both said goodbye to the other couple and left.

When they were gone, Todd scooted over to sit next to Blair.  “You didn’t hear the best part of the call from this morning,” he told her as he gave her a goofy grin.

Blair returned the expression to him.  “Okay, mister, what was the best part?”

“Well, Tina’s the matron of honor, right?  Bo-Bo’s going to be the best man, Viki and Clint’s kids will be part of the bridal party, but guess who’s giving away the bride?”

Blair’s expression softened as she realized who he was talking about.  “She asked you, didn’t she?”

His expression changed to one of mild disgust as he said, “Well, me and my evil twin.” 

Blair was the person who knew Todd the best and she could see how touched he was by Viki’s request.  Though she had little memories of Viki’s wedding to Ben years ago as she was beginning to suffer a breakdown, she knew Todd had eventually come around and supported Viki on that day.  And, knowing Todd’s feelings about the Buchanans, she was pleased he would be there for his sister on this special day.  “Its will be wonderful seeing you walking down the aisle, I know that.”

“Dad’s walking Aunt Viki down the aisle?” came the question from Starr.  Blair and Todd turned around to see their daughter standing there with her boyfriend, Michael Corinthos III. 

“Yeah, Shorty, she asked me and Victor to do the, you know, thing…” Todd said, almost sheepishly. 

“Oh, that is so sweet!” she exclaimed, giving him a hug.  When she stepped back, “It’ll give a practice run.”  Then she flashed a mischievous smile.

Todd shot Michael a look and the young man held up his hands immediately.  “No, Mr. Manning, it’s nothing like that!”

Starr let out a sigh as she sat down, Michael walking behind her to avoid Todd.  “I meant, Dad, that if I ever get married, which won’t be for a while, I can promise you that, you’ll know what to do,” she explained at last.

“Better not be for a long time,” Todd muttered under his breath.  Then, looking across the table, he asked the young man, “Will you be joining us for my sister’s wedding or has Starr not asked you yet?”

Michael cleared his throat.  “Well, she did ask, but I just want to check with my mother,” he answered.

“Check with me about what?” Carly asked as she returned to the table.  Michael, Starr, Todd and Blair explained about the wedding weekend that was being laid out in Llanview and that Michael was invited to attend as Starr’s guest.  Carly saw no problem with that.

“Now, all we have to do is ask Molly’s mom or dad if she can come as Jack’s guest,” Starr said. 

Todd looked at his watch.  “I guess I can do that when I talk to Lansing.  I have to a meeting with him in a few minutes.  Better get to it now,” Todd said as he rose from his chair.  He gave Starr a hug and Blair a deep kiss and left the restaurant. 

When Todd arrived back in his office, Maxie got up from her desk.  “Ric Lansing’s in there,”  she said as she chucked her finger at the door.  “And he’s not very happy.”

Todd looked at the door.  Before entering, he said, “Get your boyfriend on the phone for me when Lansing leaves.  I have a job for him.”  Todd went in and said, in a overly-cheerful voice, “Ricky-boy, how are you today?”

“I’m fine, Todd.  What’s got you in a good mood?” Ric asked.

“I’m always in a good mood, Ric.  But today, my sister asked a favor of me, I managed to sit through a lunch with one of the Cramer Coven and not want to kill her and now, I have a job for you I that I know I’ll love, if you can pull it off, but know you’ll love even more.”  He paused for dramatic effect,  “I want to sue someone.”

Ric’s ears did perk up at the sound of that.  With an oily, almost clichéd lawyer smile on his face, he asked his client, “Who do you want to sue and why?”

“Well, this is the tricky part,” Todd began.  He lowered his voice as he explained, “When I learned about the trust fund Victor Lord set up for me,  the guy who administered it told me that from the time I turned eighteen, my adoptive father, Peter Manning, was paid $50,000 a quarter.  It was for my upbringing.  But I never saw a dime of it.  So, can I sue his estate for the $1.4 million he stole from me and the trustees?”

Ric got out of his seat and poured a glass of water.  “How long has it been since you came into the money?”

Todd leaned back in his chair.  “It’s been almost twenty years,” Todd answered.

Ric looked pensive.  “Who inherited the estate when Peter died?  It obviously didn‘t go to you.”

“His latest girlfriend, Connie Bensoncroft, cold bitch that she was.”

“I’ll have to look into the statute of limitation on a case like this, but if it’s not up, I don’t see why not.  But here’s my question:  Why didn’t you do this all those years ago?” Ric asked him.

Todd looked beyond Ric as he remembered.  “At the time all of this happened, I had just gotten married, I was going to be a father and I was suddenly worth $30 million.  I figured Peter had screwed the trustees at the time, but that wasn’t my primary concern.”  He got up from his chair, and leaning on his crutch, walked over to a picture he had of his family.  “Now, I have the time to think about it and if I can get the money, I want to set up a trust fund, for Sam and Leo.  Put it to better use than old Peter Manning ever did.”

Ric nodded.  “I will look into the matter and get back to you,” Ric said as he picked up his jacket.

“You do that Lansing.  Oh and before you go, I’d like to have Jack invite your daughter to come with us back to Llanview.  My sister Viki is getting married and she has both Starr and Jack with a plus one.  Jack wants to bring Molly, but I wanted to clear it with you before he asked,” Todd said.  Then he gave the lawyer an evil grin.  “What do you say?”

Ric eyed the man.  He could tell this wasn’t really what Todd wanted, but he was asking nonetheless.  Thinking for a minute, he answered, “Let me check with Alexis.  If she has no problem with it, then I have no problem with it.”  Ric turned to leave, near walking right into Damien Spinelli.

The PI jumped back immediately and moved out of Lansing’s way before walking into the office.  When he closed the door, Spinelli said, “You called, I come.”  At Todd’s scowl, he amended,  “I stopped by to visit the Maxime…Maxie.  She informed me you needed to see me anyway.”

“I’ve got a job for you,” Todd said.  “I need you to find two people for me.  Let me know if they’re alive and where I can find them.”

“And do these people have a name, Mr. Manning, sir?” Spinelli asked.

“Yeah, Connie Bensoncroft is the first and Harry Redding is the other,” Todd replied simply.   

“And who are Ms. Bensoncroft and Mr. Redding?” the younger man asked.

“Redding was my adoptive mother’s last husband, and Bensoncroft is the bitch I’m looking to sue,” Todd informed him, glee creeping into his voice.


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