Tomas finished getting ready for his meeting with Calmar and the shipment. He found it hard to keep his mind on business as his thoughts kept returning to the news report he watched after John had left. It was true, he had killed Carly. If Sonny finds out I’m responsible he won’t rest until he gets me. It was more important than ever to make sure Corinthos was found with the guns now. Walker’s going to go ballistic if he finds out his plans are upset. Get your act together man, stick with the plan and get those guns hidden. Set Sonny up now and then you can concentrate on Manning again. A short while later, he left.
Outside the apartment, the two officers observed Tomas getting into a Limo and prepared to follow.
****
John wondered if he had heard right. Why, the hell, were Todd and Blair talking about Walker Flynn? “I don’t understand, who brought up Walker Flynn after all these years and why would you be calling Tea? Flynn’s dead.”
Todd and Blair looked at John. Blair was the first to speak. “He’s not, John. Walker Flynn is alive, and he has Sam. We were all wrong, Victor died in the elevator not Flynn. Sam contacted us. He described Flynn to us. That’s when I realized the truth. We just need to find him right now.”
“Blair, you must be mistaken. Are you basing all this on Sam’s description? You were there, Victor had been shot by Flynn and escaped the elevator right before it crashed to the bottom of the shaft. We all saw it.”
“We saw what Flynn wanted us to see. He took over Victor’s life and we believed him. I believed him because I didn’t want Victor or Walker, as I believed at the time, to be dead. I let that madman into my life and the kids’ for nine years. He fooled us and he probably used all his resources to keep up the front. We know that Victor was working with Irene. Flynn must have felt like he hit the jackpot, the first time Irene reached out to him. He let her believe he was her son and used her connections and power to sustain the charade.” Blair paused, the thought that she married Flynn and had even slept with him and almost carried his child had started her stomach to churn again. “Don’t you see John, it explains so many things now. Look at his bizarre behavior at times; his treatment of Starr, that weird romance with Marty, and even his overactive sexual libido.” She recalled Tea telling her about Todd and doing it in the front hall of his home. Then she thought about the rough sex she and Walker had the night shortly after she outed him as Todd. Only he had never been Todd. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She said, desperately trying to make John understand.
John was stunned. One look at Blair’s face told him she believed what she was telling him. “You’re serious aren’t you?”
“That SOB took Sam and according to him his father is into some dangerous stuff, and my son is right there in the middle of it. You know what kind of man Flynn is. The FBI has almost pinpointed where they might be. I wanted to call Tea. She has a right to know her husband is alive.”
John tried to absorb this new wrinkle. He could understand Blair’s anxiety because he had seen Flynn at work and knew just how rotten and immoral the guy was. It was disturbing that he had been fooled along with everyone else. Blair was right, Tea needed to be let in on the happenings, but this wasn’t the right time. “I hate to say this, but Todd is right. I’m not sure she’s up to receiving that kind of news. If what you’re saying is true, Flynn lied to her along with everyone else. It’s been one shock after the other since Todd arrived home. She thought she was married to Todd Manning then she had to accept that he was Victor Lord. She just lost their baby. Now you want to tell her he faked his death and he’s not Victor. Are you really going to let her know he’s a sleazeball named Walker Flynn, the real brother of Mitch Laurence, after all that? I think she’s been through enough lately. You should hold off.”
“Perhaps you’re right, I just thought she had a right to know.” Blair put her phone back in her pocket.
Todd had been standing quietly during the conversation. His arm had been around Blair the whole time, and he had felt the shiver that had gone through her when she told John about Flynn. The lie that the man had perpetrated on his family was horrendous. Flynn was a dead man as far as he was concerned. Hell, I’ve already been tried for his murder and cleared, they can’t try me again. I’ll wait until Sam is safely home. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound coming from Jack’s computer.
In his room, Sam had been reading his messages from Jack. Jack had posted a picture of the rifle and asked Sam if that was what he had seen. When he had said yes, Jack had gotten excited. He had asked all sorts of questions and Sam had answered the best he could. It looked like he was right to be worried about Dad and the guns. Where was his mom? She hadn’t been on since he had been describing his dad’s new weird looks. “Jack, what happened to Mom?”
Jack had been listening to the exchange between his Mom and John. He was confused by what his mother was saying and from the looks on Starr’s and Addie’s faces, they were too. What did mom mean, Flynn was Victor? Everyone jumped when his computer intoned. One look told him what he needed to know. Jack piped in. “Sam’s writing some more. He looking for you, Mom.”
Blair, Todd, and John made their way to the computers. Todd and Blair headed to Jack’s while John joined the Feds. Jack got up and moved off the chair giving his mom the seat.
“Sam, this is Mom, I’m still here. Tell me, does your father know you saw him with the guns?”
“Naw, I pretended I was still asleep when he came to my door this morning.”
“Honey, why did you pretend? Is there something about your father that scares you?” Blair found herself biting her lower lip. She was afraid for Sam.
“Well...” Sam hesitated. I should tell her, she said kids should never be afraid to tell when someone hurts them no matter who it is. “Mom, don’t get mad, but Dad slapped me last night. He got angry because I was saying you would be worried and then we got to talking about Uncle Todd. Why does he hate Uncle Todd so much? They’re brothers. I told him Uncle Todd didn’t mean to hurt him, but I think that’s what made him mad. He said he was sorry after he hit me. I just didn’t want to make him mad this morning. I wasn’t really supposed to be in the room I was in when I saw him with the guns, so I just pretended that he woke me up.”
Todd’s hands clenched into fists as he read the message. He looked around and noted the stern expressions on the faces of the other men in the room. None of them was happy to hear that Sam had been hit. The look of determination on their faces said they were all anxious to get their hands on Flynn.
Blair’s eyes filled with tears at Sam’s statement. She had always believed that Victor, no, that Flynn, had loved the kids but now she realized he had used their fondness for him to keep them in line. The man had hit his own son. She saw Todd’s reaction and knew Sam’s words had hit close to home. If Flynn had been standing there right that moment she would have ripped his face off. Blair calmed herself. Anger at Flynn isn’t going to help anyone right now, you need to reassure Sam. “Sam, thank you for telling me what your father did. I don’t want you to be scared anymore, so you did right by pretending. Don’t worry anymore about your Dad and Uncle Todd. They have issues that they need to work out for themselves. Sam, where is the lady who took you? Weren’t you worried about running into her this morning? “
“She’s gone. Dad said he had her leave last night because she scared me and hurt Grandma, but he was lying.”
“How do you know he was lying?”
“Because I heard him tell the guy with the funny voice, that he had done a good job and that the lady was dead and wouldn’t bother anyone again.”
Blair met Todd’s eyes with her own. They now knew what fate had befallen Sam’s kidnapper. Alison Perkins was dead.
She turned back to the computer. “What guy with the funny voice? Why did you think it was funny? Did it sound strange like he was hoarse or was it something else?”
“He sounded a little like Tomas, he used funny words like “Mon Sewer” and Mad moy zell, and he kept saying “we” but at weird times. He’s the guy helping Dad with the guns.”
Todd’s eyes met John’s across the room and they simultaneously spoke. “Calmar!”
****
Tomas’ Limo pulled up outside the warehouse district. He exited the car and waited. Down the street, the unmarked car carrying Dante’s officers pulled up and parked. They sat, watching as several cars passed them and joined the limousine.
The police radio intoned. “Carlson, check-in. Why did you leave your post? Your replacements just showed up at the brownstone and you were gone. What’s going on?” Dante was on edge. Sonny had been ready to go after Alcazar and it had taken every ounce of persuasion he had to keep his father in check. He knew Sonny wanted to strike out at someone. Dante feared Alcazar was the one who killed Carly, but he wanted to keep Sonny out of it. If he and John were right, they would be able to get Alcazar or Delgado, whoever he was, simply by waiting for him to make another move on Manning.
“Carlson here. Sorry, didn’t have time to report our change of location. The suspect left and we’ve followed him to the warehouse district. Do you want us to intercept? It looks like he’s meeting with some of Zacchara’s men.”
“Negative, do not engage. Watch what’s going down and get a video of what’s happening. We need this to play out.”
“Check. A transport truck just pulled up and joined the meeting. There’s a rather dapper guy meeting with the suspect. Looks like this is some kind of delivery. Zacchara’s men just took control of the truck. The suspect and the man he met just got back into the limousine They’re moving out. What do you want us to do?”
Dante had to make a quick decision. “Give me the tag number on the limousine, I’ll have the other team take over watching the suspect and his guest. I want you to follow the truck and tell me where they go.” He got the tag number and within minutes the Limo was spotted by a patrol car leaving the district and headed back toward the Metro-Court. He needed to talk to John McBain and was reaching across his desk when the phone rang.
“Hello. John, I was just going to call you. Alcazar left the apartment, and my men followed him to the warehouse district. Some sort of delivery exchange took place. I've got men on both the limousine and the delivery truck. Do you have any better idea what this is all about?”
While Blair had continued to reassure her son, John had found out what she meant when she said Flynn was into something dangerous. The federal officers informed him about the guns and everyone became intrigued when they found out a CIA operative was working with Flynn. According to the information, Sam had given them, Calmar had left with the shipment of guns earlier that morning and was making his way to Port Charles, to meet with none other than Tomas. John thought back to his earlier conversation with Tomas. “Dante, are you telling me, that Alcazar accepted that delivery without any problem. No sudden bust from the CIA or anything?”
“There were no other law enforcement agencies anywhere near that meeting, except my men. Is that significant?”
“Yes, it tells me that Tomas Delgado is as crooked as they come, and I’m guessing from his reaction to the news about Carly Jacks that he is also the real Lorenzo Alcazar. He’s got big plans for that shipment and I think they involve your father. This now falls under federal jurisdiction. Some of our men will be joining you at the station. We need to know where that truck is going. When the feds arrive, let them take it from there. You and I are going after Delgado. Where did you say the limo was headed?”
“According to my men, it’s headed back towards the hotel and his apartment. He’s already separated from the truck. Even if the feds move on it, he’s going to skate because he’s using Zacchara’s men to move it. Do you still think he’s the man that’s been trying to kill Manning?”
“I’m certain of it. I think he’s going to make a stop at his apartment before doing anything else today. He’s been working for someone else who has a big stake in all this. I’m betting he just completed his task for that person and feels free to go after Manning at his leisure now. He doesn’t suspect we’re on to him, so that gives us the edge we need to catch him in the act.”
“Alright. So what’s your plan? You’re not seriously going to use Manning as bait are you?”
“We don’t have a choice. Tomas Delgado has to believe he’s free and clear and he has to find Manning vulnerable. I don’t like it, but Manning has already agreed. He wants this over. You need to get to your men, it’s time to tighten the noose and let him hang himself. Whatever you do, don’t lose him. It’s a matter of life and death.” John hung up.
He looked over at Manning. The man was jittery and obviously anxious about Sam. The last week had taken a toll on him but somehow he was still standing. This was the man John had met on the dock. He saw the survivor who had freed himself from his mother’s hell hole. That man had wanted nothing more than to be with his family and have everyone safe and sound. Instead, he had been met with suspicion and disbelief at every turn. Now, someone whom everyone had trusted, had finally shown his true colors and John couldn’t help feeling a little ashamed. He had believed Tomas right along with everyone else. He walked over and stood directly in front of Todd. “I’ve got to say this now. You deserve to hear it. I misjudged you and let my prejudices about your past mistakes rule my actions and thoughts about you. Your sister was right. I’m sorry.” He held out his hand.
Todd was shocked. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond. No one had ever admitted that they might be wrong about him. He looked at the outstretched hand and gripped it hard. He was overwhelmed, he met John’s eyes and saw the truth there. He nodded, “Thanks.”
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Loving it. Another great chapter.
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