The Devil You Know: Chapter 13

The next morning, Starr came down the stairs to find her father on the couch in the sitting room.  “How was your night last night?” she asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“Terrible.  My kids all abandoned me and I was stuck in a dinner with Dorian Lord and David Vickers,” he scowled as he paged through The Banner.  “Yours?”

“We all had a great time at Capricorn,” she said as she grabbed the Style section.

Todd looked over at her and noticed she was wearing a lot of black.  “You turning into a goth or something?”

She looked down at her outfit.  “No, I’m going to the cemetery this morning.  I thought it was…”

Todd put the paper down and came to her side.  “Can I come with you?” he asked gently.  “I never got the opportunity to say goodbye.” 

Starr remembered her conversation with Michael the night before, but realized this was different.  She leaned into her father, who wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.  “I’d like that.”

“When do you want to leave?”

“We can wait till after breakfast,” she replied.

“Okay.  I need to go make a call,” he said before stepping outside.

While he was gone, Starr could hear Sam jumping down the stairs and Jack and Molly’s voices saying,  “Yeah, we’ll see what Mr. Cassadine has to do, but maybe you can meet his son,” Jack said.

Starr gave her brother a curious look.  “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Oh, good morning!” Molly said cheerfully.  “Last night I ran into my cousin Nikolas at the Buenos Dias Diner.  He’s here for his grandmother’s trial but his son is also here and I hadn’t seen Spencer since they left Port Charles last year.”

“Yeah, Spencer is Sam’s age, so I thought they could hang out together,” Jack added.

“Who’s hanging out?” Blair said as she entered the room.

“If it’s okay, we’d like to take Sam over to the Palace Hotel,” Jack said.

“My cousin Nikolas is here in town with his son and he’s really protective of his, but Spencer has to get lonely with just his dad,” Molly explained.  “Since he’s around Sam’s age, we thought they might like each other’s company.”

“That’s really sweet,” Blair said.  “I can take you over there after we eat, how does that sound?”

As Todd walked back into the room, Molly stepped out, telling them she’d call Nikolas to confirm.  “What’s sweet?” he asked Blair who told him of the plan.  “Great, that works out because Shorty and I are going to do some father/daughter bonding.”  He looked over as his daughter finished her muffin.  “You ready?”

She nodded and they were off.  After Blair, Sam, Jack and Molly finished their breakfast, they were getting their coats on when Dorian came down the stairs.  “Where are you off to?” she asked.

“Sam has a play date with Molly’s cousin’s son, so we’re going to head over to the hotel.  See you later,” she said and they were off.

Dorian looked around the empty house.  “So much for time with my girls,” she said mirthlessly.

Todd had the driver stop off at a florist and pick up three bouquets of white roses.  When he got back into the car, Starr gave him a curious glance but said nothing.  A few minutes later, the car stopped at the crypt and Todd and Starr got out.  He handed her one of the bouquets as she hesitated at the entrance. 

“Hey, you okay?” her father asked.

Starr gathered herself and nodded, stepping inside.  She walked over to the far wall, where the plaques for Cole and Hope were.  “Hi, baby girl,” she whispered, a tear forming in her eye.  “Oh, God, I miss you so much.”  Then she dissolved into tears.

Todd placed one of the bouquets on the floor next near the plaque and touched it.  “Hey, Peanut,” he said, his voice cracking.  Then he gathered his daughter in his arms and held her when he saw another figure approach.

Michael Corinthos stood there, feeling like an outsider.  He knew Starr had begged him off the night before, but he had wanted to come and pay his respects to her little girl.  Viki Davidson had been kind enough to tell him where the cemetery was and he arrived to find his girlfriend and her father comforting each other. 

Todd offered Michael a small smile and Starr turned her head to see who had come.  “I know you said last night…” Michael began when Starr left her father’s arms and ran to his, the tears falling faster.  Todd pivoted with his cane and left the crypt.

He made his way to the location of the graves from the old Lord family crypt.  As he approached, he saw the man he had called earlier.  “Larry, been a long time,” he said, holding out his hand.

Dr. Larry Wolek had been surprised to hear from Todd Manning when he had gotten the call earlier in the morning.  But, he had been meaning to come to his wife’s grave, so the call was welcome.  “Todd, I see you’re back on your feet,” he said to his brother-in-law.

“Thanks to your son,” Todd said with his usual half-smile.  He place the last arrangement on the grave of Meredith Lord Wolek, joining one that Larry had just place there.  “I wish I could have really met her,” he said as he point to the grave.

“Well, as I think about it, you two did have some things in common,” Larry said.  “Neither of you played well with authority figures.”

“Yeah, she mentioned something about that,” Todd said.  At Larry’s look, he said, “Near death experience, guardian angel, that kind of crap.  Took me a minute to figure out it was even her, having only seen a few pictures at Llanfair.”

Larry let out a chuckle.  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?  Merrie a guardian angel…to you”

“God knows I needed it,” Todd replied.  Then his phone range, making him annoyed.  Looking at the number, he excused himself for a minute.  “Yeah I told you I’d call you.  I’m taking time…alone.  When I’m done, I’ll be there,” he said, ending the call.  Walking back to the grave he gave Larry another annoyed look.  “My idiot brother,” he said by way of explanation.

“I have to admit, it was really off-putting meeting him as ‘Victor Lord, Junior’ when they brought Tea into the hospital,” Larry admitted.

“Imagine how I felt meeting in the first place,” Todd said sarcastically.  Then he looked down at his watch.  “Look, I have to go deal with this jerk,” he said as he turned to leave. 

Larry nodded, the moment broken.  “Todd, if you ever want to know anything about her…”

Todd nodded, acknowledging what was unspoken.  Then he dialed Blair’s number.  When she picked up, he asked immediately, “Can you meet me at The Sun, so I don’t try to kill my brother again?”

At the Palace Hotel, Blair had just stepped inside when Todd’s comment caused a smile to appear on her face.  “You would really consider that, after all the trouble you got into the last time?”

“Hey, you put me and Victor in a room, you never know what will happen.”  Then he saw Starr and Michael approach.  “Hang on Blair.  Hey Shorty, you alright?” he asked, holding his hand over the phone

“Yeah, I’m better,” she answered.

“Why don’t you go over and say hello to Larry.”  He nodded his head towards the doctor.  “You’ll see that she gets back to La Boulaie?”  When Michael nodded he left them.  Before getting in the car he smiled as his daughter embraced and comforted her uncle as he returned the sentiment.  “Blair, you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.  Where are you?”

“Meet me at The Sun offices and I’ll tell you,” he teased her.

“Okay, can you give me fifteen, twenty minutes?” she asked.

Todd thought about it for a minute.  “That’ll be plenty of time to, like, push him out a window or stab him with a letter opener.”

“Look, just wait for me if you’re so concerned with his well-being,” Blair huffed, getting annoyed with him.  With that she hung up the phone and got on the elevator with the kids. 

They arrived at the floor and Molly knocked on the door.  A handsome, dark-haired man opened it and gave Molly a smile.  “Hello, Molly, Jack.”  He stepped aside to allow them entry into the room.  “And you must be Jack’s mother,” he acknowledged Blair, before bending down to the young boy who stood in front of her, “And you must be Sam.”  

“Does your son like Spiderman?” Sam asked and Molly and Jack chuckled. 

“Listen, I hate to do this, but I have to possibly stop Jack’s father from killing his brother.  When you’re ready to come home, give me a call,” she told her son.  “Mr. Cassadine, a pleasure, if a brief one.”

“I look forward to talking more, Mrs. Manning,” Nikolas replied as she left.  When the door closed, Nikolas walked into a bedroom and came back out with his son.  “Spencer, this is Sam Manning.  Sam, my son, Spencer Cassadine.”

“Hi Spencer,” Sam said.

The other boy didn’t respond, as his father informed them all, “Spencer is very shy.”

It was Jack who spoke up.  “Does he like ice cream sundaes?”  When Nikolas nodded, Jack bent down to the boy’s level.  “The restaurant here makes the best sundaes in the world.  How would you like to go try them?”

“Yes, you remember the ice cream deserts the cook at Wyndamere used to make.  We’ll put these to the test,” Molly added.

Spencer seemed to open up to the idea and Nikolas took his hand as Sam asked him about Spiderman.  Though Spencer wasn’t very chatty, by time the snacks arrived at the table two boys were opening up to each other.

Molly turned her attention to her cousin.  “What are your plans for tomorrow, Nikolas?” she asked.

Nikolas shrugged his shoulders.  “I have a business call in the morning, but I suspect I’ll just stay here with Spencer,” he told her.  “Besides, I never really got a taste for turkey anyway.”

“You’ll just spend it here?” Jack asked.  Though never much of an extrovert, he was horrified at the thought of anyone spending a holiday in a hotel.  “Hold on one second,” he said as he got up from the table, his cellphone in his hands.  Nikolas tried to stop him from calling whomever it was he was calling, but Molly hushed him.  When Jack came back, he announced, “My Aunt Viki said you and your son are more than welcome to join us tomorrow.”

Before Nikolas could decline the invitation, Molly interrupted.  “That is so sweet of her.  It would be rude to not take her up on it.  And Nikolas is never rude.”

Nikolas looked between the two teenagers and let out a sigh.  “Where and at what time should we be there?” he questioned, defeated.


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