The Devil You Know: Chapter 4

Todd opened the door and called to his family, “I’m home!”  When no one came, he grumbled his way through the foyer.  Reaching the library, he saw Blair and Sam working on something together.  “Hey, buddy, what’s are you doing there with your mom?”

“It’s a project for school,” he said as he gave Todd a hug.

Todd returned it, smiling at Blair as his did.  When Sam went back to his work, Todd asked her, “Where are Jack and Starr?”

“Jack’s got homework he should be doing and Starr’ll be here soon for dinner, which I need to go check on,” she said as she walked into the kitchen. 

Todd sat at the desk, going over papers when his phone rang.  Seeing Spinelli’s number, he let out a deep sigh.  The kid was a good PI, but Todd still couldn’t get use to his way of speaking.  Todd decided to stop the caller before he started.  “In English, tell me what you found…Okay, what about…well, keep looking.  It’s more important to me to find her than him, but thanks for the information you do have.  Call me when you have anything.”  With that, Todd abruptly ended the call as Jack came down the stairs. 

“Hey, Dad, can I go to the movies with Molly tonight?” his son asked.

“Actually, we need to have a family talk at dinner.  If you can sit through it, you and your girlfriend can go tomorrow night on me,” Todd offered.

Jack raised his eyebrows.  “Sounds fine.  Thanks.”  As he sat on the couch, the question was asked, “What do we need to discuss?”

“When we sit down, I’ll tell you,” Todd said, smiling at his own son’s impatience.  It was definitely a trait Jack had picked up from him.

Eventually, Starr arrived and they sat down at the table.  As they were eating, Jack looked over at Todd.  “We’re all here now.  What is it you wanted to talk about?”

As Todd took a drink from his glass, he began with, “First, I talked to Lansing, who said Alexis agreed to let Molly come to the wedding if she wants to, so you can ask her when you see her next.  Now, I know Michael is coming and I thinks Sarah was going to ask her boyfriend, Dillon.  They’ll all come with us, but the original Port Charles residents will have to find there way back home after the wedding without us.”

Starr’s eyes narrowed.  “Why, we’re not coming back here?”

“No, well, not right away.”  Todd looked at Blair than at each of their children.  “When I was still in the hospital, I told you that if you had any questions about me, my past, my childhood, I would answer them.  In conjunction with that, I also want to take you all to where I grew up, Chicago.  I haven’t been there since you were little, Starr and I think it’s time I go back.”

“And we’d go after the wedding?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, that was the thought.  I know November in Chicago isn’t the ideal time of year, but I figured we could all have a little fun while we were there,” Todd said.  “I also went looking for some people and, well, I found one of them:  Bitsy’s last husband, Harry Redding.  We’ll go and drop in on him when we’re there.”

They continued to talk some more before clearing the dishes.  When the kids had retreated to their separate corners of the property, Blair found Todd at the desk in the study.  She wrapped her arms around him.  “I know this is hard for you, facing your past like this.’

Todd turned in his chair and held her face in his hand.  “It’s something we should have done a long time ago.  The last time I was even there was before I found half of Llanview in Cleveland,” Todd said.

Blair smiled at the memory, remembering seeing Todd after more than a year.  He had just whacked Max with the lid of a garbage pail and she was worried about her then husband.  Then, seeing Todd, she was more worried her ex-husband would try and take back their daughter. 

That was the start of their last reunion that had led through three marriage attempts, one successful ceremony, the birth and presumed (on her part) death of their son and eventually ended with his disappearance  for eight years.  She thought about that time he had been away from Llanview, leaving his family because of yet another stupid stunt.  “You went to Chicago way back then?” she asked finally.

“Yeah, but didn’t stay long.  I went to Bitsy’s grave, wanted to show her what her son had become,” Todd said.  “I hope she would have been proud of me.”

“From anything you’ve ever told me about her, I think she would have been,” Blair replied before leaning in for a kiss.  It was long and deep and would have been taken farther, had the doorbell not rung.

“Reg, who’ve it is, tell them to leave,” Todd bellowed.

The butler walked over to the entrance to the library.  “You remember my policy when your sister shows up,” he grimaced as Tina rushed past him.  When Reginald had first met Tina, he had told Todd that no amount of money he could be paid was enough to make him deal with Tina Lord Roberts.  Anytime she showed up, the Manning butler opened the door for her, and hurried off to another wing of the house.

Tina eyed Reginald as he scurried away then turned her attention to Todd and Blair.  After Todd’s shooting, she had made a promise to Cord and herself that she would be nice to Blair.  She had seen how worried the other woman had been through the whole ordeal and finally realized how much the former gold-digger really loved her baby brother.  Because of that, she held her tongue whenever she was in the other woman’s presence.

“Tina, you’d better have a good reason for interrupting Todd and I,” Blair remarked snidely.

Tina chose to ignore the blonde.  Instead, she focused on Todd.  “I spoke to Viki this morning after the conference call,” Tina informed him.  “I wanted to go over some plans for the wedding.”

Todd rolled his eyes at Tina.  “Did Viki put you in charge of the wedding? Hmm?” he asked snarkily. 

Blair knew how this conversation was  going to go and decided the best thing was to step out of the way.  “I need to go make sure Jack and Sam are finishing up their homework.  I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Todd watched her go and turned his annoyed eye back to his sister.  “Andrew told us today that you were already nosing around in this whole thing and I’m sure Viki has asked you not to, right?”

“As a matter of fact, I am not doing any planning for the wedding,” Tina stated firmly.

“Then what the hell do we need to talk about?”

Tina took a deep breath.  Sometimes, it was the only way to deal with her brother.  “I’m planning the rest of the weekend.”  When Todd eyeballed her again, she explained, “Look, Viki is having a whole big Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family on Thursday.  On Friday, they’ll be having the rehearsal.  That night is what I’m planning, and I need your help.”

Todd was almost afraid to ask what she needed his help with, but he did so.  The plan she laid out was ridiculous and he told her so, but she would not be swayed.  At last, to get her out of his house, he agreed to help her, but she would have to get the third party’s help in the scheme. 

When she finally left, Blair came back downstairs.  “So, what did Tina want?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you, because she wants it to be a surprise,” Todd said, but he leered at her as he added, “There may be a way to get the information out of me.”

“Really, what way would that be?” she asked him, suggestively.  Then she began to back out of the library.  Todd got up and followed her as they made their way to the bedroom. 

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