The Devil You Know: Chapter 6

It was the next day and Todd sat in the study fingering a piece of paper.  On it was a phone number to Harry Redding.  Spinelli had tracked it down for him and Todd was now contemplating calling the man ahead of the trip to Chicago.  The PI had also manage to find Connie, who was also still in Chicago.  Todd had her number and address, but he was determined to get the drop on the bitch.

Blair walk up behind Todd and saw the number on the paper.  “Spinelli was successful?” she asked.

“Yeah, he found Harry.  Now I’m thinking of calling him,” Todd said, his voice hesitant.  “But I don’t know if I should.  I mean, what do I say to him?  Will he even remember me?”

“You want me to stay here for support if you do call him?” she asked.  When he gave her a saddened look, she went on to say, “You know I will support any decision you make.”

He smiled at her, kissed her hand and picked up the phone.  Letting out a breath, he dialed the number.

After three rings, a voice on the other end said gently, “Harry Redding.”

Todd was almost hoping a machine would pick up, but when he heard the man’s voice, he said, “You may not remember me but I’m Barbara Manning’s son…”

“Todd?  Todd Manning?  My God, it must be nearly thirty years since I’ve heard from you!” the man said excitedly.  “How did you find my number?  I know Peter’s dead…”

“I had a private investigator look for you,”  Todd said.  “Yeah, it’s been a long time.”

“Are you in Chicago?” the man asked.

“No, but that’s kind of why I called.  My family and I will be there after Thanksgiving and I was wondering…I mean, I haven’t seen you since the funeral and…” Todd’s voice trailed off.

“Todd, I would love to see you again, and your family.  You’re married?”

“Yeah, well, kind of.  But I have three kids and they’ve never been to Chicago so I figured now was as good a time as any,” Todd said.  “I was thinking we could meet at the cemetery, at Bitsy’s grave.  I know it’s morbid, so if you have any other suggestions, I’ll hear them.”

“No, that’ll be fine.  I still got there frequently,” Harry said.  After a pause, he asked,  “Did you ever find your family?  I know Barbara wanted that for you.”

Harry’s question was met by a moment of silence until Todd answered, “I did.”  Not wanting to say any more on that topic just yet, he made some final arrangements and then ended the call.  “So, we’ll meet Harry at ten in the morning on that Monday.  Then, probably have lunch afterwards.”

“How you doing?” Blair asked.  She knew that for Todd, going into his past was difficult, especially anything to do with his growing up. 

“I only have a vague memory of meeting Harry, at the funeral but he did take the time to tell me how much Bitsy missed me in her final days.  Later on, I overheard him say something to Peter that I now think had to do with the Lord Trust,”  Todd said.  “But you know Peter.  He never let on the anything about anything and by that point, I was so scared of him, I never brought it up again.”

It was then that Jack and Sam trotted into the study.  The Manning men had an appointment for their tuxedoes for the wedding and Blair was taking them all now.  Jack had heard the end of his father’s comment and asked, “What’s going on?”

“I talked to Harry Redding.  He was married to my mother when she died,”  Todd said.  “We’ll be spending some time with him when we go to Chicago.”

“Is he my grandfather?” Sam asked as he climbed into Todd’s lap.

Todd looked up at Blair, thinking of the answer.  Sam was aware that Todd had adopted him in the last few months, but no one was sure how much of anything Sam really understood.  But he had come to see Todd as his father and would introduce Todd to his friends as such.

“Well Sam, you know how your mom adopted you and I’ll be marrying her soon?” Todd asked.

“For the fourth time!” Sam pointed out.

“Yes, for the fourth time.  Well, I was also adopted and the guy we’ll be visiting, he married her after my parent’s divorces.  So, yeah, in a way he’s your grandfather,” Todd explained.  Then Todd looked at his watch.  “Oh, we have to get going.”

At the shop, as Blair was working with Sam, Todd and Jack were having their own conversation.  “So, is this guy our grandfather?”

“Look, Jack, Sam’s eight.  He’s having a hard time understanding a lot of what’s been going on in the last few months.  If he wants to think of Harry as his grandfather, I won’t stop him,” Todd said.

“No, I was just thinking, this guy has to be better than either of the men who would be considered your father.  I mean, Peter Manning and Victor Lord?  One was worse than the other,” Jack replied.  “What was Harry like anyway?”

Todd stood up to try on a jacket.  “I only met him once but he seemed like a good guy then and he seemed pleasant in our conversation today,”  he replied.  “He was Bitsy’s lawyer for the divorce, I remember that.  Peter would curse about him at the time.  And I remember from my mother’s letters that she fought to get custody of me at the time, so he must have tried to help her with it.”

“But you had to stay with Peter, right?” Jack asked, trying to understand.

“The way the trust was set up, Peter had control of it, so therefore, he had control of me.  Also, Peter’s treatment of Bitsy turned her into an alcoholic, so that probably played against her at the time.”  He took a seat, getting winded from all the activity at the shop.  He looked up at his son.  “You know, I tried to run away to her when I was, like, ten.  But she sent me back to Peter.”

“If she loved you so much, why’d she do that?” Jack asked, outraged.

“He won custody and she would probably get put in jail if she tried to keep me.  So she sent me back to him, even though she didn’t want to,” Todd reasoned. 

“It still sucks for you, Dad.  She should have kept fighting for you if she really wanted you,” Jack responded. 

Blair came back to where Todd and Jack were, saving Todd from responding to his son’s last comment.  “You guys ready yet?” she asked.  “I’ve got Sam all squared away.”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready,” came the elder boy’s reply.  He walked out towards his younger brother.

Todd was staring into the mirror.  He had heard Jack’s last comment and something about it made him stop.  Why hadn’t Bitsy kept fighting in court for him, if she had really cared that much for him?  The question was gnawing at him so much, he never heard Blair’s voice calling him until her hand touched his shoulder.  When that happened, he nearly jump a mile high.

“Todd?” came her alarmed voice.  Todd was acting strange, even for him and it was scaring her.  She remembered to a few nights ago when she had found him in the study looking over the pictures there. He had been having the recurring memory of shooting Victor.  Now, with his past beginning to be stirred again, she was worried how it would effect him.

Whatever had gripped him a moment ago had left and he turned to Blair.  He saw the look of concern on her face, but he tried to alleviate it with his typical crooked smile.  “Hey let’s take the boys to the Metrocourt.  They have that great chocolate lava cake,” he said to her.

From having zoned out a moment ago to turning on his, admittedly unusual, charm, Blair was more concerned, but now was not the time or place to vocalize them.  She decided to smile back at him and agree with his idea.  They collected the boys and headed to the hotel’s restaurant.          

Arriving there, Sam bowled into a woman standing near the bar, too fast to be caught by either of his parents or his older brother.  When Blair final reach the youngster, he was tangled up with the woman, an attractive brunette.  “Sam Manning, I told you to be careful!” she scolded the boy.

“Sorry,” came Sam’s quiet apology.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” the woman said as she finally looked up at Blair.  “Oh, you’re Blair Cramer!  Oh, I am so glad to finally meet you.”  She stuck her hand out for Blair to shake.  “Lucy Coe,  CEO of Deception Cosmetics.”

Blair’s face brightened with recognition.  “Yes, I remember that company when I had my own cosmetic company, Melador,” she replied.

“Right, Melador, and now you’re the co-editor in chief of Crimson Magazine.  I’ve wanted to do lunch  with you since I saw you moved to Port Charles, but I’ve been so busy planning the Nurse’s Ball,” Lucy fired off.

Todd’s ear’s perked up when he heard the term Nurse’s Ball.  “That’s the AIDS charity, right?” he asked, then added, “Todd Manning, Publisher of The Sun.”

Lucy offered him a smile as she nodded her head.  “Yes, to benefit the Stone Cates Memorial AIDS Wing at General Hospital.  Unfortunately, this year, we decided to hold it in December and now, I’m having a hard time talking to the old guard who used to fund it due to the short notice,” Lucy explained.

Todd gave her a devilish grin, one Blair knew all too well.  “Ms. Coe, I promised my sons’ a treat, but I would like to talk to you about this further.”  He pulled out a business card.  “Give me a call tomorrow and we can set up a lunch to talk about the financial issues you’re facing for this benefit.  I’d really like to help.”

If Blair were the jealous type, Lucy Coe may have found herself flying out the nearest window.  But the smile she returned to Todd bespoke a similar scheming mindset.  Lucy graciously accept the card and the chance to talk some more and left the restaurant.  When she was on the elevator, Blair got a table and turned to Todd.  “What’s going on in the mind of yours?” she asked.

Todd merely shrugged his shoulders and offered a smile.  “I’m only following the advice I was give some time ago about being generous because your wealthy.  I’ve got money, power and I’m in a new town, so why not?”

Blair smiled back at him, remembering their social debut at the Gold Star Gala all those years ago.  He had been reluctant at first, but when she told him they would technically be crashing it, he was all in.  Now, they would be the hosts of this event, as Todd seemed intent on funding the whole thing.  Then she said to him, “Took you long enough to learn that lesson, huh?”

“Well, I am a slow learner, but I make sure it’s worth it,” he said as the family enjoyed their afternoon treat.


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