Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 43

         Starr had gotten up early and placed a call to Michael.  When she had said goodnight to her brothers the night before, she had been upset and curious at the same time.  Jack had managed to surprise her.  She was beginning to wonder if he might not have a point.  Why on earth would Tomas be in Port Charles and not seeking out their mother?  One answer was he was on assignment, but for some reason, that answer was too pat.  It also brought up more questions.  Tomas had told everyone he wasn’t in the espionage business any longer, so why would he suddenly be out of town for the CIA?

        “Michael, could you meet me for breakfast?  I have something I need to talk to you about.”

        “Sure, Starr, is this about your Dad?  He hasn’t had a setback has he?”

        “No, my dad is doing fine.  He’s out of the hospital I think, although I haven’t yet talked to my mom.  No, this is something else entirely and I don’t want to talk over the phone.  Can you meet me at Kelly’s in about thirty minutes?”
    
        “Okay I’ll be there, you’ve got me curious.  See you soon.”

         Starr hung up and got dressed.  Hopefully, Michael could tell her more about Lorenzo Alcazar.

****

        Tomas was eating his breakfast when his phone went off.  He frowned when he saw the caller.  “What is it, Claude?”

       “Monsieur Flynn is in need of an update.  Did everything go as planned with Monsieur Zacchara?”

       “Yes, I have another meeting set up this afternoon to meet with Zacchara and some of the top men in his organization to let them know of the change in leadership.   You can assure Flynn that everything is going along like clockwork.  The programming worked like a charm.  Zacchara is a basket case and ready to divest himself of the organization.  His main concern is keeping his secrets under wraps.  It’s quite amusing, given they’re actually my secrets he’s hiding.  By the way, are you currently in Llanview?”

       “Oui.  I had an unusual call from your sister.  She’s not very happy you are working for the CIA again.  Monsieur Flynn deemed it necessary that I work to smooth her feathers before she draws attention to you.”

       “Good luck with that.  You better just give her the standard line.  If you try to placate her too much, she’s going to get suspicious and try and dig deeper.  Once Tea gets a whiff that something isn’t right she's going after the truth like a dog would go after a bone.  I need you to do something else for me while you are in town.  See if you can find out where Blair took her family.”

        “My friend, you need to forget that one.  She’s trouble and she’s too close to Todd Manning.  We do not want him finding out the truth.  At this point in time, too much is at stake.”

        “That’s my point, I want Blair far away from Todd Manning.  The longer she stays away the better.  Just see if you can track her down.  I strongly believe he won’t be a problem for any of us too much longer.”  Tomas smiled as he thought about Todd.  He might already be dead.  “But getting back to the original subject.  I’ve got Zacchara where we want him.  By tomorrow, the organization will be ours completely.  Pass that along to Flynn and tell him to stop worrying.”

****

         Michael walked into Kelly’s to find Starr waiting for him. “Wow!  Whatever you want to talk to me about must really be important.  I thought I would beat you here, by at least fifteen minutes.”

         Starr looked at him puzzled. “Why would you think that?"

         “I was remembering how long it took you to get ready in the morning when you stayed with me after the accident.”

         “Hey, your memory is off, you took twice as long as I did.  The fact that I got here before you is proof of that.” She smiled sweetly, knowing she was right. “I’m glad you finally made it.  I didn’t know what you might want for breakfast so I just ordered mine.”

         Michael sat down and gave his order to the waitress then turned his eyes to Starr. “Well, what did you want to see me about?”

        “This is going to sound strange but what do you know about a man named Lorenzo Alcazar?”

        “What?  Lorenzo Alcazar is dead.  Why do you want to know about him?”

        “I have my reasons.  I want you to look at this picture and tell me if you recognize this guy.”  Starr opened her cell phone and found a picture of her mom with Tomas.  It had been taken the night of the Movie Premiere when her father reappeared in their lives.  She handed it over to Michael.

         Michael looked at the photo. “When was this taken?”

         “Last August.  Do you know that man?”

         “Last August, that can’t be right.  Lorenzo was believed killed in two thousand and seven.  They never found the body, but even my mother believed he was dead.  Where was this and isn’t that your mother?”

        “Yes that’s my mother but the guy next to her is a man I know as Tomas Delgado.  He’s the brother of my Aunt Tea.  It was taken at a Movie Premiere in Llanview.  My mother’s been seeing the guy for over a year.  She met him in Paris.  You just identified him as Lorenzo, now maybe you can understand why I’m asking about Lorenzo Alcazar.  My brother said he’s in town.”

        “Wait a minute, this guy’s in Port Charles?”

        “Yes, or so my brother says, and last night I and my brother had a chance to read up on Lorenzo Alcazar.  I’m worried.  We were told that Tomas worked for the CIA, but that he had quit the organization a long time ago.  I’ve never been too happy that my mom was dating him because he’s the reason my dad went missing for eight years.  Now I find out there is another guy that looks exactly like him, that was an arms dealer and mobster. Michael, just who is this guy?  More importantly, what’s he doing here?”

****

        Alison stood outside the Metro Court hotel.  Miles had found out that his nephew Sam Manning had been brought by his mom to Port Charles.  She had volunteered to check out the circumstances for the trip and to keep an eye on the boy.  Approaching the counter she inquired. “Excuse me but are you hiring?”

        An hour later, Alison walked out of the hotel with a couple of uniforms under her arm.  She would start her new job later that afternoon  Things were falling into place.  While filling out the job application, she had managed to get into the guest files and found out what suite Sam Manning and his family were in.  She wasn’t too happy to see that Todd Manning was also on the guest list.  She would have to be careful not to run into him.  Flagging down a cab, she headed out of the city to Mile’s home.  She was anxious to tell him what she had found out.

       Walker was in his study when Alison arrived back home.   He made note of the garments she was carrying as she entered.  “I see you’ve decided my choice of clothes for you isn’t to your liking.”

       “No, Miles, these are for my new job at the Metro Court Hotel.  You said you wanted to know why your nephew was in Port Charles.  I got the job so I could keep an eye on him until we can work out how to separate him from Blair Cramer.  You probably won’t like this, but Todd Manning is also staying at the Metro Court.”

       Walker already was aware of Manning’s whereabouts but he feigned surprise. “Oh no, that means Blair Cramer is trying to get back together with that scoundrel.  I don’t want Sam to have anything to do with that man.”  It wasn’t hard to express his anger.  Ever since Sam had told him he liked his friend Todd Manning and wouldn’t stop seeing him, Walker had vowed to find a way to keep the two of them apart.

      “Miles, you needn’t worry.  We’ll find a way to get Sam.  Todd Manning is a pig and tried to kill Mitch several times.  You’re right to want the boy away from him.”

****

      Michael let Starr in on what he knew of Lorenzo while they ate.  He told how Lorenzo had kept his mom on a boat and everyone believed she was gone.  Then his father Sonny had found out where she was but by the time he got to her she was in labor with Morgan. “My dad thought Lorenzo was hurting her and he shot Lorenzo but the bullet also hit my mom in the head and when she recovered she had amnesia and didn’t remember me, Morgan, or my dad Sonny.  Instead, she had fallen in love with Lorenzo.  She left us for a while and married Lorenzo.  Then she got her memory back and left him.  Lorenzo didn’t like it and the war between him and my dad escalated.”

       “So this Lorenzo guy really was an arms dealer?”

       “Yep and although he wasn’t in his brother’s organization, to begin with, he later got back involved with his brother’s mob ties.”  Michael had been watching Starr while he told his story and he could tell she was upset with the tale.  “Listen, you said yourself that Jack didn’t get a picture of this guy.  He saw a picture of Lorenzo on the computer.   Maybe he just thinks this Tomas guy is Lorenzo because of the article.”

       “But that in itself is suspicious.  Tomas told us he was out of the CIA, he has no reason to be here.  Now supposedly he is here and I didn’t tell you what else Jack saw.  Tomas or Lorenzo was here seeing Johnny Zacchara.”

        Michael frowned. “What do you mean he was seeing Johnny?  How would Jack know Johnny?”

        “Your cousin Molly told him she thought Johnny lived in the area where Tomas was dropped off.   When he was headed back to the Metro Court, Jack saw a guy talking to Tomas or Lorenzo.  He looked up Johnny Zacchara on the internet and it turned out Johnny was the guy.  I’m not sure what to do with this information.  My dad is already upset because Johnny wants to go into business with me and help my singing career.   After what just happened I’m afraid to tell him that Tomas might even be in town.  My dad hates Tomas.  If he were to find out about this there’s no telling what he would do.”

        “What does your dad have against Tomas, other than the fact he and your mother dated?”

        “Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that.  Tomas is the reason my father was held and tortured for eight years.”  Starr thought again of the terror she had seen on her father’s face the day before.  She pushed her plate away suddenly losing her appetite.  “My mother said Tomas was sorry for what he did to my father, but I never really understood how she could overlook it.  You saw a little of what my father is going through.  He’s far from over it.  I’m glad my mom finally has come to her senses regarding Tomas, but now I’m wondering if there’s more to Tomas’ story.  I think I want to talk to Johnny.  Will you come with me?”

        “Absolutely, if there is any chance Lorenzo is alive, then my parents need to be warned.  But wait, you know today is Kate Howard’s trial right?”

       With everything that had been going on with her father, Starr had forgotten about Kate Howard.  She owed it to her daughter, to see what fate had in store for Kate.  “Johnny will have to wait, I need to go to the trial.  I want to hear what Kate is going to say.  I’ve got to come to terms with this first, then I’ll look into this mystery about Tomas.”

       “That’s what I thought you would say.  You have a right to see how this all unfolds.  We’ll go there and then we’ll go try and get some answers from Johnny.” Michael got up and offered his hand to Starr.  She smiled and took it, grateful for his support..




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