Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 62

“Todd! My God, you’re hit!?” Blair was frantic.  She spotted the blood trickling down his face as he rolled over onto his back.

       He stared into her beautiful but terrified face.  “What?  No, it’s nothing, I think some glass must have nicked me.” He knew she was thinking of the last time he had been hit.  He felt something cutting into his neck and reached up to find a shattered piece of the window between his skin and the collar.  “I’m alright, see.” He showed Blair the glass as he removed it and that was when she lost it.  She collapsed onto him, crying.

Todd held her to him, “Shh, Babe, you know me, the guy with nine lives.  Tomas is going to have to do a whole lot better if he wants to take me out.”  He held her, rubbing the small of her back as her sobs lessened.  He looked around and saw Starr, Jack, and Addie standing shocked in the doorway. John had moved to the shattered window and was peering out carefully.

 

“If you’re looking for the shooter, the shot came from out in the lake.  Is he gone?” Todd said as he began to sit up.  Blair quickly separated herself and sat back on her heels to give him room, her hand going to his forehead, which was still bleeding profusely.  Todd caught it before she touched him. “Wait, Babe.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and put it to his temple. Blair smiled gently and took it from him and began to tenderly wipe away the blood. 

With those simple movements, everyone came back to life. Starr moved to the bathroom.

“Mom, keep the pressure on, and I’ll get a wet cloth.”

Jack walked toward John. “What shooter?  Are we talking about the same guy that shot at Dad last night?  What’s Tomas have to do with all this?” 

Blair and Todd looked at each other. “Jack, stay away from the window.  We have no idea if he’s still out there,” ordered Todd.   He wanted to go look for himself, but now his headache had taken on a whole new dimension.  The pounding inside had increased, and the discomfort on the outside was making him a little dizzy.  He was sure if he tried to stand at that moment, he’d fall flat on his face.  

Starr joined her mother and father, handing the cool cloth to her mother.  “Come on Dad, let’s get you off the floor.” 

 With Blair and Starr helping, Todd got to his feet and as he suspected the change in altitude, made the room tilt precipitously.  To keep from going down, he stopped and gripped Blair’s hand tightly, swaying slightly until the room righted itself.  Blair moved in imperceptibly and gave Todd the added support of her body the instant he clutched her hand.  Todd moved to a chair and sat down, letting them tend to the wound.  

Jack had hesitated when his father had told him to stop, but when he observed John move directly in front of the window, he figured the danger was over.  He crossed to the window and looked out to see what had grabbed the detective’s attention.  His eyes widened as he saw what was taking place out on the lake.  “Whoa, there’s a Coast Guard Cruiser out there and a smaller boat. It looks like someone’s hurt or dead.” As he watched, he saw men scurrying around the person lying still in the smaller boat.”

Blair looked over in alarm, “Jack, get away from the window!”

“Aww, Mom.  It’s safe.  I think that’s where the shot came from.  Wow, they must have shot him.  That’s why he’s not moving.”

John had been watching quietly and turned to Blair.  “It’s alright.  Jack’s in no danger.”  He looked up at the ceiling where the bullet had plugged.  “Manning, you have the luck of the devil.  He wasn’t taking any chances this time, he aimed for your head.  What gave him away?”

“I caught a flash of something just as I was turning and figured it wasn’t good.  Instinct, preservation, I don’t know, I just dove for cover.” 

 “How are you doing?  You should be checked out by a doctor. The glass that cut you could have come in contact with the bullet.  I’m betting that bullet is coated the same as the last two.”

“Forget it, I’m not going to the hospital, and that’s final.  Glass flew everywhere.  The odds of a piece that came in contact with the bullet hitting me are probably astronomical.”  Todd winced as Blair applied more pressure to his forehead.  “Hey, not so hard.”

Blair frowned at him.  “John’s right and you’re being stubborn.  That little piece you showed me didn’t do this.  The cut’s too deep, and it needs stitches.”  They watched as John moved to the area Todd had fallen.  They saw him lean over and pull a plastic bag from his pocket.  He gingerly picked up a bigger shard with the bag and sealed it. Blair felt queasy as she spotted blood on the edge.

“You guys make a habit of carrying baggies, or is that for your dog?” Todd remarked snarkily.  

John ignored the comment and looked him straight in the eyes. “You won’t go to the hospital.  I figured we could get the glass tested.”  

Todd was shocked. John was actually trying to help. There was only one thing he could say, so he said it quickly. “Thanks.” Before he could say anything else, Addie led in a paramedic.  Todd panicked.  “I don’t know who called you, but stop right there, turn around, and leave.  I’m fine, and we don’t need your services.”  He paled and began to break out into a cold sweat.  

“Todd, I told you.  You need stitches.  This doesn’t want to stop bleeding, let the man do his job or else I’m going to take you to the emergency room myself.”  Blair made the statement then saw the look of terror in Todd’s eyes.  She turned to see the paramedic opening his bag and realized her mistake.  “On second thought, maybe you’re right.  Sir, my fiance is correct, we don’t need your help.”  

For his part, Todd was struggling to keep it together.  The paramedic in front of him kept changing from a paramedic to an orderly and back again. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, but in doing so the pounding increased.  Think Todd, Dr. Collins said to use the mantra.  Concentrate on it.   He began to whisper to himself. “I have a daughter, her name is Starr. Starr has a mother, her name is Blair.  Blair was my wife.  I have a son, his name is Jack.  I have a daughter, her name is Starr...”  He began trembling.  In his mind's eye, the orderly continued to move toward him.

As soon as her father started whispering, Starr moved.  “Yes, my grandmother was wrong.  We can handle this ourselves.  It just looked bad to start with.” She hustled the paramedic out of the room, followed anxiously by Addie.

“Starr, I don’t understand.”

“Grandma, I’ll explain shortly.” 

Blair was watching Todd, her fears were confirmed when he started his chant. As she watched he seemed to withdraw into himself and was leaning back in the chair, as if he were trying to get away from someone or something only he could see.  She reached for him only to have him flail his arms. 

“No, get back! Leave me alone!” he curled away from her and started chanting again. 

 John frowned, he knew from the reports he had gotten at the hospital what had just happened. The shooting along with the sight of the medical technician was causing Todd to experience another PTSD hallucination.  

Jack was confused.  He had been so engrossed with what was taking place out in the lake, he hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary when the paramedic arrived.  Then his father started to chant.  He looked over to see what was going on.  He saw his father with his eyes closed, whispering.  His mother was clearly upset as she began trying to get his father’s attention.   He jumped when his father yelled and turned from her.  “Mom, what’s going on?” 

John caught Jack as he started to head over to his parents.  “Hold on, Jack.  Let your mother handle this.”

Jack shook off the arm.  “Why? Something’s wrong.  Mom’s scared, I can see it in her face.  What’s going on with my father?  Is it the injury?”

“No, this is the result of eight years of captivity.  Your father was put through a lot during those years, and now he’s fighting a battle with his own mind.  It’s one of the side effects of post-traumatic stress.  His mother did a real number on him, and the man out there on the boat tried to finish the job.”

Jack walked back to the window.  He thought back to the day he spotted Tomas in town.  He had thought the guy was stalking his mom, but he had really been after his dad.  “That’s him, isn’t it?  That’s Tomas out there.”

John stood next to him as they watched a body being removed to the Coastguard Cruiser.  “I believe so, yes.  I’ll be able to find out soon.  He won’t be bothering anyone again.”

Jack looked over at his parents.  His mother was carefully and soothingly talking to his father.  She made no further move to touch him . She was crying.  His father stopped chanting and appeared to be breathing heavily.  He watched as his dad lifted a very shaky hand to his mother’s face and wiped away her tears.  He felt like he was intruding, as his mom responded with a weak smile, and took his father’s hand and hugged it to her chest.  His own eyes teared up, and he turned back to stare out over the lake.  “I hope Tomas burns in hell!”  A tear dropped on his cheek, followed by several more, as he wept for his father. 

John put a hand on Jack’s shoulder and then turned his attention to the doorway where one of the federal agents was entering.  The agent made his way to John’s side. 

 “Sir, there’s a  call from Agent Devane.”

John glanced over at Todd and Blair and decided to give them some time before bringing up Tomas.  He paused to let Starr and Addie back into the room, before following the agent out to take the call.

 Starr had procured the necessary items from the paramedic.  He had only given them to her after she had explained the situation to him.  Now she needed to fix her father’s wound.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her father was okay.  In minutes, she and Addie managed to get him stitched up.  Then all three women insisted he lay down and rest.  His reaction to the paramedic after nearly being shot had scared them all.  Todd was too drained from the episode to put up a fight.

  Blair was beside herself, she wanted to rage and kill Irene all over again not to mention the monster who had almost succeeded in killing Todd a third time.  She didn’t even want to think about Sam, because it made her even more furious.  She had held Todd’s hand as Starr had worked on him.  It had taken everything in her to keep control of her emotions, in order to give Todd time to regain his own composure.  Having decided to let him rest. Blair reached deep into her core, letting the anger turn cold. Enough was enough. This is your family Blair, no one messes with your family and lives to tell the tale.  She swept the comforter off the bed and the glass with it, then let Todd lie down.  “Okay, everyone, listen up. I’ve had it, this family has cowered in this room long enough.  Mannings don’t hide, we get even. Todd, you rest.  I’ll get you some aspirin for the head.  Jack, make yourself useful.  Try and get Sam back up on the computer.  We need to know what’s going on.  Starr, I want you and Addie to get Tea on the phone.  It’s time she found out about her not-so-dead lying husband.”

Laying back on the pillows, Todd couldn’t help smiling a little bit.  Blair had gone into her Mama Bear mode.   It was one of the things he loved about her.  She was right.  It was time for action.

Blair saw his smile and rounded on him.  “What are you grinning like a fool for?  You were almost killed again, and Sam still hasn’t talked to us since this morning.  It’s not funny!”  She grabbed up the spare pillow that had fallen to the floor with the comforter and swung it at Todd. 

Todd reacted quickly.  He caught the pillow and tugged, causing Blair to lose her balance and fall beside him on the bed. “Temper, wounded man here.”  He grabbed her arms as she tried to get off the bed and made her sit next to him.  “I don’t think any of this was funny.  I was smiling because I love it when you get all fierce.  Walker Flynn is a fool to think he can just take Sam, and you won’t retaliate.  He obviously never really got to know you the way I do.”  Todd saw Jack still standing by the window and just looking at them.  “Jack, you heard your mother. Go try and get your brother back online.”

 He and Blair watched as Jack nodded and headed to the other room.  Then he drew Blair’s attention back to him by reaching to move a strand of hair out of her face. “If I heard Jack correctly, right before the paramedic got here, I don’t think we need to worry about Tomas any longer.” 

Blair looked at the broken window.  One of the federal officers was standing there, looking out, talking on his cell, and seemed to be having a conversation with someone about the event. “You think he’s dead, don’t you?  I still don’t understand why he was trying to kill you.” 

“Blair, it’s obvious.  He considered me a threat to his being with you.  He knew we shared a bond, and he wanted you all to himself.  I don’t want to talk about him, I won.   Let John and Detective Falconeri tie up the loose ends.   All we need to concentrate on now is finding out where Flynn has Sam.”

“Todd, I’m just so worried about Sam.  The Feds almost had a location when he suddenly signed off.  If Walker found out he was in contact with us, he could take Sam and leave and we’d never find them.”

“Not going to happen.  Sam seems to know he can’t let his dad find out what he’s doing.  I’m pretty sure he signed off to keep Flynn in the dark.  Look, we know they’re in the Philadelphia area.  I think it’s time we headed back to Llanview.”

Blair nodded, she had an overwhelming need to get somewhere closer to her son.  “I agree, but will the police here let us go.  You were just shot at for the third time.  They’re going to want to talk to you.”

“There’s not a whole lot I can tell them.  Until today I didn’t even know Tomas was in town.   I’m the victim, remember.  Besides, if that was him out on that lake.  He’s gone.  They caught him in the act, I’m guessing.  They don’t need me.  They can’t stop us from going home.  Hand me my phone and I’ll get Vince and the plane ready.  You tell Starr, Addie, and Jack.  I’ll handle John.”

****

A few blocks away from the Metro-Court, Calmar stood waiting for his cab.  He had just successfully reinforced Zacchara’s programming and had sent the young man to turn himself in to the police.  It was time to head back to Philadelphia.  Getting into his cab, he gave his instructions. “Take me to the airport.”

Anna Devane walked out of Corinthos’ warehouse.  Several ambulances were lined up to aid the officers injured in the gunfight.  It had been over pretty quickly as Zacchara’s men soon realized they were outnumbered.  Once inside the warehouse, it had become clear what the men had been doing.  The crates from the truck stood open, and it was apparent the men had begun hiding the guns in the coffee shipment. Dante Falconeri was right.  They had been setting  Corinthos up.  She managed to get the name of the man Carlson had seen with Alcazar.  Anna took her phone out and made a call.

“This is Anna Devane.  Let me speak to John McBain.”  A minute later John answered.  “John, we’ve got the guns and the name of the man who delivered them to Alcazar.  It was  Calmar.  I’ve notified the CIA, they’re stunned.  They say he’s not working on anything for them at this time.  Mac and his officers are checking all avenues out of the city.  We’ll get him if he decides to leave Port Charles.  I haven’t heard from Detective Falconeri, has he gotten Alcazar or Delgado, whoever he is, yet.  I want to talk to both of them.” 

John had listened quietly as Anna told her story.  “You’ll be able to talk to Calmar, but no one’s going to be talking to Delgado.  I believe he’s dead and I’m just waiting for confirmation from Detective Falconeri.”

“Wait.  Detective Falconeri was supposed to bring him in for questioning, what happened?”

“I’ll explain as soon as I hear from the detective.  Someone made a third attempt on Todd Manning just a short time ago.  The shooter missed but was taken down himself.  I just don’t know if it was Delgado yet.”

“You don’t know, but you think it was him, don’t you?  Why?”

“It’s a long story and goes back a lot of years.  Let’s just say Tomas Delgado and Todd Manning have a turbulent history.  The man was also an assassin at one time for the CIA, I think that and his hatred for Manning qualifies him as a suspect.  Hold on, I’ve got another call coming in.  It’s Falconeri.”  

Anna waited impatiently on the other end of the call.  John had suspected Delgado was the shooter.  That meant he was the one responsible for the murder of Carly Jacks, and John neglected to mention that fact.  She hated it when he went off on his own, and it looked like he was doing it again.

“Anna, are you still there?  I was right, Delgado is dead.  Falconeri and the Coast Guard were forced to shoot him down when he tried to turn his gun on them.”

“I see.   When were you going to tell me you thought he killed Carly Jacks?”

 "When I talked with him this morning, all I had were suspicions.   I knew from his reaction to her death that he was involved and I had to let him think we didn’t suspect him.  That’s why Dante just shadowed him.  If he had brought him in, Delgado would have used his contacts to prove he was on assignment and left town.   I stirred the pot when I told him about Carly and that the second attempt on Manning had failed.  I needed him to make a move while we were watching.  He moved faster than I thought and still got a shot off before Dante took him down. Once again Manning is lucky to be alive.” 

“Okay, so Delgado was the shooter.  Was he just playing at being Alcazar?”

“I don’t think so.  Calmar has been his supervisor for a lot of years.  If we get him, we can get the answers to all of this.”

****

Calmar arrived at the airport and stepped out of the cab.  A short time later he heard his plane being called and headed for the gate.  He was about to board the plane when he found himself surrounded by several officers.  “Messieurs, to what do I owe this honor?”

“Claude Calmar, you are under arrest for trafficking in guns and the attempted framing of one Michael Corinthos.  You’ll have to come with us.”

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