The Devil You Know: Chapter 42

Remarkably, Todd managed to sleep through the night and was still asleep when the incessant knocking was heard around ten in the morning.  Reginald made it to the door before any of the family was there and he was displeased to see who had come calling.  “Mr. Lord, what brings you here at this hour of the morning?”

“I need to see my brother,” Victor said as he barged in.

“That’s not possible,” the butler answered. 

“Look, it’s important,” the other man replied.  “Where is he?”

“He had a rough night,” Blair’s voice came from the study.

Victor looked at her.  “What, did he remember?”  There was an air of panic in his voice. 

“He never told me, and I didn’t push.  But Victor, he was so broken.  I have never, in all the years I’ve known him, seen him like that,” she replied.  “So, whatever it is, you’ll have to talk to him about it another time.”

As she walked away, he said to her, “I remembered.”

Blair turned around quickly, her mouth falling open.  Then she regrouped and asked, “What did you remember?”

He looked around and walked into the study, with Blair following.  When she was in, he closed the door and turned to her.  He tried to put his thoughts in order before he began.  “I still don’t have a frame of reference and I haven’t remembered it fully.  But, I have a very clear memory of running on a…a sidewalk.  I had to stop, to catch my breath.  And when I looked up again, I saw this boy with the same exact face as me, staring back.”

“Todd,” she said simply.

“Unless we have a triplet, yeah,” he snarked.

“What else do you remember?”

He shook his head.  “That’s it.  I was up half the night trying to dig for more, but nothing.”  He walked to the door to the study and opened it, looking side to side to see if anyone was there.  When he saw no one, he headed across the foyer.  Blair followed him.  “I guess I’ll see you all tonight.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there, but I’m worried for Todd.  He’s never been the most comfortable in these situations and now with what happened last night…”  Blair’s voice trailed off.

“Yeah, about that, look, I apologize, to you and to him.  I didn’t…I didn’t want to provoke him for once.  I just need him to remember.  He’s the key,” Victor said.  Then he nodded a goodbye and left.

Blair closed the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes.  If what Victor remembered was true, she could see how it could have scared a seven-year-old boy and how it could affect him now.  She turned around and noticed Todd standing by the door to the study.

“Who was that?” he asked.

“Ah, Victor came by to apologize for last night.  He says he didn’t mean to get in your face about your memories, but now it’s starting to effect him,” she explained.    

“Poor, widdle Victor,” he replied snidely, before he seemed to shake it off.  “Well, I’m just happy he’ll be gone tomorrow.”

“Todd, remember, you and he have to meet with Tracy Quartermaine tomorrow,” she reminded him.

He grimaced at the thought.  “Wonder what that old battle-axe wants to talk about.”  He walked into the study and poured himself a drink, downing in quickly. 

Blair followed him inside.  “It’s something her father left behind, remember?  She wanted to talk to you, Tina and Victor about it.”

“Well, I really don’t care what Edward Quartermaine wanted to tell me,” he said, his temper rising.  He took a deep breath.  “Look, I just really need to focus on tonight.  I can’t worry about tomorrow.”

Blair moved closer to him, cupping his scarred cheek.  As she ran her thumb over it, he closed his eyes.  She gentle kissed him and he opened them back up.  “Okay.  No more talk about Edward or your past or your memories.  Tonight is about a good cause and being around our family…even those we don’t particularly like.”

“Oh, no, don’t tell me Kevy’s coming!” Todd complained melodramatically.  As if to answer him, the doorbell rang and a look of horror crossed his face.  Blair couldn’t help laughing as she went to answer the door.  On the other side was Harry Redding.  She turned around and smirked at the relief that washed over Todd.   “Thank God,” Todd said.

Harry looked confused.  “Is this a bad time?”

“No, I just mentioned to Todd that we were ever so happy we could have so much of our family here for this time of year and the event,” Blair replied.  “I’m sure you have some business, and I have some thing to prepare for tonight, so I’ll leave you to it.”  With that, she headed up the stairs.

Todd led Harry into the study.  “You have news on the case, I’m guessing,” he said.

“Yes, I heard from my secretary that Ms. Finchner is not budging, so it does appear that we will be going to court.  Now, here is my question.” Harry sighed as he continued.  “Do you want to go to court still?”

“Hell yeah!” Todd replied.  “Did I make out better then I would have with Peter’s money?  Yes.  But at the same time, he stole from me and my family for years.  And the abuse he put me through while taking Victor Lord’s money?  Yeah, I want to go to court.  He owes me and with him dead, his estate does.”

\Harry nodded.  “Okay then, I’ll tell the court we want to move forward.”  He got up and looked at the pictures on the mantle.  He pointed to the old one of Viki and Merrie.  “Who is this here with your sister Viki?”

Todd looked up and a sad smile came to his face.  “My other sister, Meredith.  She died a long time ago.  Hell, before anyone knew all of Victor’s deep dark secrets.” 

“So you never met her?” Harry asked.  He had been curious about Todd’s family since he had left Chicago.  Harry had done a little bit of investigating on his own about the Lords of Llanview and how Todd had fit into them.  He had never seen anything about a Meredith. 

“Well, I kind of did,” he responded vaguely.  When Harry pressed him to continue with a look, Todd merely shrugged his shoulders.  “It’s a long story.  And in all honesty, I have a big night to get ready for.  I hate to rush you out of here, but…”

“No, I understand.  I’ll be off, as I have to get ready myself.  See you later,” Harry said as he left. 

Todd walked back to the mantle to reached for the picture of Merrie.  Ever since he had been shot, he had gained a new relationship with all his sisters.  Viki had forgiven him, Tina been there for him and Merrie…Merrie had looked after him, in the only way she could, really.  “What is it about you, huh?  Why now?” he asked.  He knew he wouldn’t get an answer so he put the picture back down. 

Blair came back into the study.  “Harry left?”
 “Yeah, he had to get ready for tonight,” Todd replied as he looked at his watch.  “Which we should be doing too.  From what I hear, Lucy tends to have last minute crises for the Nurses’ Ball and I want to stave off as many as possible.”

“Yeah, I was talking to Carly about it one day and she said we should expect Ms. Coe to end up in her underwear by the end of the night,” Blair informed him.

Todd gave her a confused look, but shook it off.  “Then, let’s go get ready.  It’s a big night for the Manning family in Port Charles.  If they think we already taken this town by storm, they ain’t seen anything!”  He held out his arm, which Blair took, and headed to their room, readying for the Nurses’ Ball.   


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