In His Corner, Chapter 13

Chapter 13

John knocked on the familiar door and waited until Sam opened it.

“This is becoming a daily routine, John.”  Then she noted the cop’s expression.  “What’s going on?”

“I know I’m asking a lot, considering what Todd did to you, but I need your help,” he answered.

Sam automatically figured out what he would be asking.  For a minute, the petty part of her was ready to slam the door in his face but something about his demeanor stopped her.  She opened the door wider and John came in.  “This is about Todd, right?”  John nodded.  “Look, right after we buried my ‘son’, Spinelli and I ran a background check on him, and from that I’m really not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“Alright then.  Thank you for your time.”  John headed towards the door. 

“But after what you told me a few days ago, I’d be willing to at least look into it for you.”  She held up her hand, stopping him.  “Even if I find the evidence to convict him.”

“That’s all I’m asking.  Thank you.”  John headed back out the door.  Sam closed it and turned her attention to her son.  She was imagining what her life would have been like if she had really lost Daniel, especially after losing Jason.  She couldn’t bear to think of what Tea Delgado was still going through.

John headed to the courthouse.  When he got there, he saw Todd at the defense table.  The man was as stoic as he had been the day he had arrested him for Victor’s murder. 

As expected, Todd was granted bail and released into Blair’s custody.  Because of the ankle monitor, John escorted him by police car to the apartment.  Once Blair unlocked the door and let them in along with Starr and Viki, John slapped the monitor on him. 

Todd looked at it then at the accommodations.  “Clint Buchanan gets a mansion, I get four rooms,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, well, if you didn’t try so many hair-brained schemes, you wouldn’t even need it.  It’s you own damn fault,” John replied, not feeling an ounce of pity. 

Todd looked to Viki but saw no sympathy.  “Well, look, since I now have a measure of privacy, I’m going to go take a shower.”  With that, he left the women and McBain alone.

“Listen, I want to let you know, I’m looking into some things regarding the case.  It’s still being pursued as a rape, but the pieces aren’t really fitting in right for some reason,” John said, directing his comments more towards Blair.

“Thank you, John,” Blair said, a smile gracing her lips.  Then she headed into the bedroom.

John was about to leave when Viki stopped him.  “I want to apologize to you,” she said.  When John furrowed his brow, she added, “Natalie and Clint have gone totally overboard with this custody fight.  I have tried to talk Natalie down, but I’m afraid she’s channeling her Buchanan roots.  And Clint…”  She let out a sigh.  “The engagement’s on hold.”

John nodded.  “Thank you.  I’ve been reluctant to see you since you got to town.  I didn’t know if both sides of the family would be gunning for me.”  Then he nodded in the direction of the running shower.  “In a way, both sides did.”

“Well, when I get a moment, I will let Todd have it, don’t you worry about that,” she said, flashing a mirthless smile.  John recognized it as one that often played on Todd’s face.  Then she reached for her purse.  “I wanted you to have these.  They’re from Christmas.” 

John looked at the pictures of Liam on a tricycle and Liam with the Santa at Logan’s.  It hit him again how hard it was to be separated from his son.  “Thank you for these.”  With that, he turned around and left.

Viki closed the door and noticed Blair in the bedroom.  The other woman was pacing the room, waiting for Todd to emerge.  When he did, sweatpants on, Blair took the image of him in. 

He was still so amazingly handsome to her.  And the years, though rough on him, had only made him more so. 

But when Todd saw her, gazing at him, he turned away, looking for the closet.  When he found it, he grabbed the first shirt he could find and buttoned it up, wrapping his arms around his chest after doing so.  “Uh, thanks again.  Don’t worry, I’ll stay put.”

Blair was caught off-guard by his more than mercurial mood.  “You don’t have to thank me.  Todd, I told you at the station when I got here, I believe in you.”  She took a step towards him and he took three steps back.  Blair read his body language and backed off.  “I wanted to show you the setup we have for work.”

She came back into the main room and walked over to the computer.  It booted up and asked for a password.  “I set it to the same one you have on your office computer.”  Hazel eyes flashed at her, but she chose not to acknowledge them.  “I have this program so we can video conference as long as necessary.  I spoke to Briggs, and we can add him to the chat if needed.”

“Briggs still has everything well under control down in Llanview,” Todd commented.

Blair nodded in agreement.  “Now, I noticed you’ve been going through assistants like pages from a calendar, and with the case, I don’t think it’s smart to have anyone close to you, so Starr as agreed to be your assistant for the duration.”

Todd turned to his daughter and noticed her conspiratorial smile, but he shook his head.  “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“Why not, that’s how I started out at The Banner, as Father’s assistant.”  It was one of the few memories she was ever able to keep of Victor Lord, working with him as a young woman in a day and age when society expected her to marry and be a social doyenne.  Perhaps it was because when she thought of those times, she thought of Joe Riley.

“Yeah, that was my thought exactly,” Todd replied sullenly. 

Starr’s face fell, but Viki pushed on.  “Hey, we had this conversation years ago.  You are not Father.  There is no bone in your body that would go there with your own daughter.”

Todd closed his eyes then opened them at Starr and made the slightest nod of his head.  A brilliant smile appeared on her face. 

Blair’s smile mirrored her daughter’s.  “Well, now that that is settled, I need to get to the office.  I expect your ‘friend’ will be rearing for a fight about the eviction notice.  Thank god you’re smarter in business then you are in your schemes.  Baldwin said that lease is iron clad.”  She grabbed her things and headed out the door, a wink aimed at Starr.  She returned it.

“And I need to get back to the hotel.  I have some business I need to deal with, but I will be back for dinner.  I heard there’s a very good Italian restaurant in town so I’ll be bringing over some for all of us.”  She gave him a kiss in the cheek.  Into his ear, she whispered, “And when I get back, you and I are going to have a long talk about my grandchildren, understand?”

When she stepped back, he swallowed.  It was a tone he recognized all too well.  He was in for a lecture and had a pretty good idea what the topic was.  Despite that, he actually welcomed it.  There was something he truly missed about a Viki lecture.  He nodded to her, and replied, “Can’t wait, sis.”

She headed for the door, smiling at Todd and Starr.  “Have fun today, kids.”  With that, she, too, left.

Todd turned to Starr, unsure of what to do or say

******

The doorbell rang at the Quartermaines and Alice went to open it.  “Mr. Michael, nice to see you.  What brings you by today?”

“He’s here to see me, Alice,” AJ said as he descended the staircase.  Alice could tell by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant talk.  She scurried away.

“Well, I’m here.  Say what you want.”  Michael’s tone was brusquer than AJ had expected.  Unresponsively, AJ headed into the study and over to the desk.  On it was a wide-spine binder, nearly filled.  On the front was the name TODD MANNING.

“Confession:  From the day I met Starr, I looked into her background and that of her family,” AJ started.  “Nothing terrible on her, but a lot of interesting info on her family.  This alone is what I found on her father.  You want all the gory details, go ahead.”

Michael didn’t make a move to the desk.  He looked at AJ expectantly.  He nodded to his son.  “Did you know that Todd tried to kidnap his kids a few times also?  Once after he came home from being presumed dead and finding his wife with another man and another time that landed him on an island with his lawyer and now-widowed sister-in-law?  There’s some question about him in connection to the death of a British businessman named Armitage.  He faked DID to get out of hundreds of years of jail time and after it was exposed, high-tailed it out of town.  He faked his own son’s death at birth because he thought the baby was another man’s.” 

AJ placed his palm on the binder, his voice softer.  “Did you also know that he was physically abused as a boy by the man he thought was his father?  That the only reason that guy agreed to raise him was because he’d get paid a million dollars by time Todd was twenty-five?  Did you know that one of his buddies in the attack on Marty Saybrooke went completely psycho and went on to rape numerous women at the local hospital, a number of crimes that Todd was accused of by the cops.  That the rapist was caught because he took Todd hostage and he later escaped and took Marty, Tea Delgado, Blair and the guy they all thought was Todd hostage and back to the scene of the original crime.”  Then AJ’s voice was no louder than a whisper.  “Did you know his father sexually abused his sister and that Todd feared he would do that to his own daughter?”

“Are you trying to make me loathe him even more?” Michael asked.

“Alright, did you know he left his pregnant bride to go bring Marty back to a young patient who was dying of AIDS?  He paid for that attempt at a good deed with three bullets in the back and being tossed into the ocean.  Or that, when he escaped from prison, he rescued his victim and two kids from a car wreck.  Those two kids turned out to be his niece and his nephew.  The boy lobbied the Governor of Pennsylvania for a pardon for Todd.  Or that, he went after a man who kidnapped Blair and paid for that by being kidnapped himself and lost to his family for eight years?  He’s done awful things to protect his family, his nieces, his sister, the woman he loves.  A woman who, ironically enough lied to him and married him so she could share in a thirty million dollar windfall she knew was coming to him.”  Pausing for a minute, AJ shook his head.  “When I read that, I’ll tell you Michael, I was jealous.  He’s had something in his life I have never had—someone who want to make a life with him, terrible choices and all.  And still does, from what I can see.”    

“I’m only saying, there’s a lot more to him. Some good, lot bad.  And not a whole lot different than me.”  He patted the binder again.  “Sit down and read.  It’s very enlightening.”

“Mom said…”

“I know what your mom said.  She also said to my parents I was bombed out of my mind in an alley,” AJ told him.  “Your mom has a habit of using a person’s past, something they are utterly ashamed of and turning on them with both barrels. I just want you to keep that in mind.”

Michael looked at the binder and backed up a step.  He was unsure of what to do.  In his head, he knew that part of his mother.  But at the same time, he couldn’t believe she’d take something so terrible that had happened to him and use it as a tool of revenge.  “No, she wouldn’t do that to me.”  Michael took off in a run, headed for the front door. 

AJ was so utterly confused by his son’s change in mood, he didn’t follow him.  In his stunned silence, AJ started to worry what had really happened to Michael.

In His Corner-Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Starr begged off dinner at the Quartermaines.  She knew had to go back to Michael’s and collect her things.  It would be one of the hardest things she had ever done.  When she arrived, she sent up a silent prayer he wasn’t home.

“I packed your things,” a voice informed her coldly.  Starr frowned at the sight on Michael as he continued.  “Were you ever going to tell me about your dad?  That he was a rapist?  I told you what happened to me in prison and you never said anything about him.  So much for total honesty.  Must be a family trait.”

“I know what you’ve had to live with because I’ve been there myself,” she replied.  “You try living through high school with the whole town knowing about what your father did.  You try looking at the boy you were in love with and seeing the fear in his mother’s eyes around your father.”  When she caught Michael’s expression, she explained, “Cole Thornhart’s mother was Marty Saybrooke, the woman he raped in college, so you try listening to the comments about you and about your parents.”

“And now my mother is his victim.”

“If it’s true,” she said under her breath.

“What was that?”

Starr turned back to Michael, her bags between them.  “I know all about my father’s crimes.  I know where that sickness comes from.  But I also know my dad.  He would never go back to being that monster.”  Sticking her chin out to him in defiance, she told him about Victor and Marty.  “When my dad came back to us and learned about that, he was utterly horrified.  He couldn’t even believe anyone would do that to someone or that any of his family would think him capable of going there again.”  She let out a breath.  “That’s why I believe my dad.  When he was charged, I saw the look in his eyes, the very same look he had, when he heard what ‘he’ had done.”

Michael just stared at her, wordless. 

“I’m guessing all my stuff is here?”

He only nodded.  She turned around and walked out, leaving the door wide open.  Michael went to close it, but stepped outside to watch her retreating form.  His phone rang and he went to answer it.  When he saw the number, he considered not answering it, but he did so all the same.  “I have nothing to say to you!”

“Michael, wait, please…” came AJ’s plea from the other end.  When he realized his son was still on the line, he continued.  “I just want to talk to you.  Can you come over here?”

Michael’s voice faltered momentarily.  “No,” he answered, “not tonight.  Starr and I…”

“I kind of figured that out.  Okay, can you come over in the morning?  I just want to talk and you to listen.  Please, Michael, I think there are other things going on here.  I have a full file on Todd and I think you may want to see it.” AJ was practically begging.

“Fine, but you only have a half-hour.”  Michael ended the call abruptly.

AJ looked at the phone and let out a breath.  His son would give him a small window, but it was something.  The door rang and as AJ went to answer it, his mother beat him there.  Opening the door, she found Blair and Viki standing outside.  “Come in.  My son told me we were having company…” she said, turning to him, “rather late.  I can’t promise much, but I can assure you, I can give you information.”

Viki smiled warmly.  “Thank you, Viki Davidson and my former sister-in-law, Blair Cramer.”  Viki nodded to Monica Quartermaine as AJ showed them into the living room.  “I do want to extend my condolences on the loss of your father-in-law, Edward Quartermaine.  I saw The Sun’s coverage of his death.  It was quite frankly some of my brother’s best work.”

“It was certainly better than Victor’s headline when Asa died,” Blair commented with a chuckle.

Monica took a seat on the chaise as their guests sat on the couch while AJ fixed the drinks.  He offered a glass of wine to Viki but she turned it down.  “I had a heart transplant years ago, so no thank you.”

“A heart transplant?” Monica asked.  “I’m sorry, professional curiosity.  I’m a cardiologist.”  For a few minutes, the two women chatted about things medical.  When they finished, Monica turned back to Blair.  “Now, I know why you are both here.  I have had my fair share of run-ins with Carly.”

“And then there’s me,” a new voice intoned.  Everyone in the room turned and saw Skye standing in the doorway, Lila Rae with her.  The little girl ran up and greeted her grandmother, before wandering into the kitchen looking for her promised ice cream sundae.  “So, what havoc has Carly wrought now?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Blair asked, automatically suspicious. 

“AJ called me today for anything I knew about Todd.  I figured it was better to come back here to give it to him instead of in front of Tea,” Skye said, pouring herself a seltzer.  “By the way, she’s been looking for you.  You may want to get a cover story together.  When I left Llanview, the news hadn’t seemed to hit yet, but I doubt it will stay that way for very long.”

“So, what, you’re here to help Todd?”  She stood up, eying the redhead with even more suspicion.

Skye had decided to meet Blair head on.  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.  Look, I admit there is no love lost between Todd and me.  But, when I look back on it, as he was blowing his life apart a dozen years ago, he was putting my life on track.”  She turned to look at Viki.  “If he hadn’t exposed half a dozen of Llanview’s juiciest secrets at that show he called a wedding, I may never have had my daughter.”  Then she turned back to Blair.  “And you may have never gone through another half a dozen horrors, especially with your son.”

Blair’s features softened.  She remembered that wedding, so full of hope at a life with Todd.  She had not yet even learned she was pregnant with Jack.  Then Skye and Max had set her up in bed for Todd to find her and the next year and a half had been an absolute nightmare.  And the next eight years after that…

“I’m sorry,” Blair heard.  She came back to the present and saw Skye’s face.  The guilt was evident on her face.

“Thank you,” she responded in barely a whisper.

“This feels like one of those moments we should hug it out, right?” Skye asked.

“Yeah, it does,” Blair replied.

At that both women shook their heads, laughter bubbling to the surface.  The moment passed.

“So, moving on,” Skye continued as she took a seat, “I will tell you all, I really don’t believe Todd would do this.  I know his history, but given how he reacted when Carly and I told him about the resemblance of Tomas and Lorenzo—“

“What was his reaction?” Blair asked, her breath caught in her throat.

“He was doing his version of the Dance of Joy,” she said pointedly to Blair.  “Like when you announced to Max and me you two were getting remarried and you had just signed the divorce papers?  Yep, amp that up by a thousand.”

A smile quirked Blair’s lips.  She had found memories of that day, handing out invitations around town.  Then she remembered her conversation with Starr before Todd had come back to Llanview with the information of Lorenzo Alcazar.  She was kind surprised her usually intuitive daughter hadn’t picked up on the tears she had been shedding during their talk.  She could admit now that it had all been a cry for help, with her querying Starr about her father’s reactions to the news about her impending nuptials.  Yet, Starr had only said she knew her father loved her but made it sound like he would do anything to stop her.

Then a thought hit Blair.  “Skye, what was Todd’s interaction with Carly on the flight up?”

“What interaction?  He could barely stop talking about you. ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see the look on Blair’s face.’  ‘This couldn’t have worked out better if I planned it out myself.’  ‘I told Blair there was something wrong with this guy!’  Even before we left, he was going on with stuff like that.  Carly had to calm him down, not that it did much good.  He even had us playacting what he would say for our reactions.”  She took a sip of her drink.  “You even saw it when we got there.  When you opened the door, he practically barreled over Carly to get to you.”

“So, there were no indications that there was any relationship going on between them?” AJ asked.

Sky parsed through her memory.  “Well she did initially walk into his office like she owned the place.  And she pushed him out of the way to use his computer for a web search of Lorenzo, but other than that, no.”

“That’s basically what Starr has been saying since we got here.  There was no indication of anything between them for any of this,” Viki explained to the Quartermaines.  “And from my short interactions with her, I can’t see Todd telling her a lot about himself.”

“Carly lost my son Jason a few months ago,” Monica said, sadness tinged in her voice.  “He was always her rock, her biggest supporter, even sometimes over her ex-husbands Sonny Corinthos and Jasper Jacks.”  Taking a minute, she added, “I know I saw her talking to Todd in the hospital during the water crisis.”       

“So we have one conversation in a hospital, one long stretch of not pay much attention to her on an airplane and in Llanview, but not much else,” Blair said.  She was going to continue when her phone rang.  Looking at it, her face dropped.  “Excuse me, I have to take this.”  She walked into the hallway and hit receive.

“Tell me you are not in Port Charles right now,” a hiss demanded.

“Yes, Tea, as a matter of fact, I am here,” Blair said, her eyes rolling.  She could only picture the the expression on the other woman’s face.

“Is Viki with you?”

“How is that any of your business?” Blair asked.

“Nora called me.  She told me he’s been arrested for rape.  Please tell me you are not there to defend him.  That you both went up there to tell him he should burn in hell,” Tea practically shrieked. 

“Nora’s found out?”  Blair closed her eyes.  “Well, Tea, not to burst your bubble, but yes, I did come here to defend Todd.”

“How can you do that?!”  Her voice hadn’t come down in pitch and it was giving Blair a headache. 

She took a deep breath.  “Because I know Todd.  I know what kind of man he is.  He’s not perfect, but he’s not capable of doing what he’s accused of.”

“Victor was accused of the very same thing, by you, so don’t tell me Todd is incapable of doing it again!”

“Tea, I swear to God, if you even attempt to compare Todd to Victor, I will come back there and rip your head off.  I think we have enough evidence to prove Todd is not Victor!” She was so angry, she hung up the phone, not trusting herself to say any more.

AJ came out to check on her.  “I guess the news made it home?”

Blair offered a sad smile as she reentered the room.  “Viki, I think you should know, Nora is now aware of the case up here.”

“Oh dear god,” was all to Viki’s response.

“I’m guessing that’s not good?’ Monica asked.

“Nora Buchanan is the District Attorney down in Llanview.  But before that, she was Todd’s attorney in his trial in college.  When she learned he and his fraternity brothers had committed the crime, she threw the case.  She lost the murder case last year and I think she’s been itching for a rematch,” Viki said.  “Look, I need to get in touch with The Banner before it goes to press.  I won’t use it defend him completely, but, in the best attempt at journalistic ethics, I am going to try to report fairly.”

“I need to get in touch with Briggs.  Let him know what’s happening too.  Being that it’s a tabloid, I won’t say I’ll be fair, but I am going to try to paint Todd in the best light.”  Blair huffed out a breath.  “I’m gonna need a lot of light.”

With that, the women left.  Monica saw them out and returned to Skye and AJ.  “Truthfully, do you believe Todd Manning is innocent?”

“Monica, having been on the wrong side of this guy in the past, I can tell you, he is dangerous, a criminal, a lunatic at times.  But a rapist?  Anymore?  Something happened between Todd and Carly and she’s out for blood.”  Skye looked back at where Blair had been sitting.  “And with regard to him and sex, there has only ever been one woman, and that is Blair Cramer.”

In His Corner-Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Manning had been placed back in his jail cell for only a few minutes when John McBain came to see him.  Todd tried his best to ignore the cop who was staring at him, wordlessly.  At last, he said, “Gloat as much as you want.”

John shook his head.  “I’m not here to gloat at all.”

“Stare at the monster in his cage?”

“Is that what you think you are?”

Todd didn’t answer for a moment.  “Isn’t that what you think I am?”

John nodded, admitting the thought had passed through his mind.  He grabbed a chair and sat down.  “When you left my room the night of the premiere, when I found Baker tied up, he warned me that if I didn’t bring you back to his custody, the bodies would start to pile up.  Your behavior since that night has been…erratic, at best.”  John let out a deep breath.  “What was your relationship with Carly?”

Todd straightened up.  “Shouldn’t I have my lawyer present?”

John noticed the guard.  “Take a coffee break.  I’ll keep an eye on him.”  When the guard left, John turned back to Todd.  “Off the record, what was your relationship with her?”

Something about John’s demeanor brought down Todd’s well-deserved guard.  “She was my friend.”

“Your friend?”

“Yes, John, I found someone who I considered a friend.”  Todd stood up, playing over things in his head.  “I guess she found me charming and mysterious.  She helped me try to win back Blair and was there for me when it didn’t happen.  I listened to her tell me about how she had set up the father of her child and complimented her on her ingenuity.”  Then Todd looked at the floor, his head almost hung in shame.  “I lied to her…about a lot.  Not just the big things, like the baby or Johnny.  She asked me on New Year’s Eve if I was really over Blair.  She asked me what I would do it Blair walked in right there.  I told her I’d tell Blair I was with Carly.”  Todd face was contorted in pain as he added, “I’ve never had a friend, I never knew how to handle someone who said they were mine.”

John felt a flicker of sympathy for the man.  “What about Blair?”

Todd raised his head so quickly, he nearly gave himself whiplash.  “Blair was never my friend.”  John was shocked by that comment, until Todd added, “To have me call Blair my friend would be to…cheapen her.  She…saved me.  She gave me everything that was good in my life.”

“And you threw it away to attack Carly,” John said.

Todd let out a breath, turned back to the bunk and laid down.  “If that’s what you think…”

“I don’t know what to think, Manning.  Since that day on the docks, I’ve ping-ponged all over the place on you.  Victim, perpetrator.  Evil genius…” John cracked a smile, “complete dumbass.”  With that, the guard returned and John left the holding cells.  As he headed back up, he turned one thing Todd said over in his mind.  Seeing Anna, he walked over to her.  “Can I ask you a few questions in private?”

Anna, curious, led the way to her office.  “What do you want to know?”

“What do you know about Carly Jacks?”

Anna thought about her answer for a minute.  “Well, she’s the daughter of Bobbie Spencer, who had her when she was a teenage prostitute and gave her up for adoption.  When Carly was a young adult, she came to Port Charles looking for her and found that Bobbie had made a good life for herself, which Carly resent for a time.  She befriended Jason Morgan, who was dating my daughter then and had a one night stand with AJ Quartermaine that resulted in her son, Michael who she tried to pass off as Tony Jones, her boyfriend and her stepfather, and then tried to pass him off as Jason’s.”  She looked at John and then added, “Understand, most of this I learned from Robin, who wasn’t on the best of terms with her, to say the least.  In fact, if Robin where here, she would not hold back with her comments about Carly.”  Then she noticed the change in John’s face.  “Why do you want to know?  Has something else come up?”

 “I had a talk about Carly with Sam Morgan this morning after going over everything last night and I’ll tell you Anna, something in my gut is telling me this isn’t…”  John paused before coming out and saying it.  “I don’t think Todd raped her.”

Anna’s eyebrow’s shot up.  “That’s a very serious charge, John.”

“I know, but a part of me thinks she’s setting him up,” he replied.  “Hear me out.  They were friends, by Manning’s own admission to me today, off the record.  Also by his own admission, he lied to her about Daniel, about Johnny’s role in the accident, about his feeling for Blair.  I talked to Sam, who told me that Jason was a huge part of her life, to the point of interfering with him and any other woman he was with at the time, Sam included.  Sam also said that up until the accident on New Year’s, Carly totally believed Todd’s story about not knowing about the switch.  Hell, I saw that myself and called her on believing his lies.  And Todd also told me today that they had a conversation about Carly setting up the father of her son and Todd complimented her on it.”  He let out a breath.  “I also know Manning.  I’ve seen his reaction to rape.  Yes, he was convicted of it when he was younger, but last year, he learned his brother, as him, manipulated his victim into a similar scenario and he was shocked that his family would think he was capable of doing that.  Taking that into account…”

Anna held up her hand.  “I think I see where you’re going with this.  Pursue it, but do so with extreme caution.  There are a lot of variables here, not the least of which is Sonny Corinthos.  If he thinks you are going after Carly instead of Todd, he could go after you.”

John understood her tacit approval.  “You have my word, until I find anything definitive, I will be treating this as a rape.”  John left, determined to get to the bottom of all of this.

******

Blair unlocked the door to their new residence.  She was carrying a few shopping bags of groceries, as were Starr and Viki while AJ helped with the luggage.  Blair was impressed.  For a quick find, the place was actually very spacious, with an open living room and the two bedrooms on either side. 

Starr took the suitcases and put them in the bedrooms then came out and helped with the food.  Blair and Viki were bustling around and AJ was pitching in.  With all of them working together, it all got done fast.  Blair found a tea kettle and put it on.  As she was waiting for it to come to a boil, she turned to their guest.

“Tell me about Carly Jacks,” she stated immediately. 

Over the next hour or so, AJ laid out all his knowledge of and experiences with Carly.  He was basically repeating all that had been said in the report Rex had put together. 

Then, taking a deep breath, he told them, “I’m going to admit something to all of you.”  He slid his eyes to Starr then said, “There isn’t all altruism here for me.  I do believe that Carly is lying about being raped by Todd and I will defend him.  But I have lived with her how she has portrayed me to my son for his entire life.  I never got the chance to be a father to my son.  He was taken from me and I was bullied and threatened until I lost any rights I have to him.  She has shown time and again how she can manipulate anyone and everyone.  Knowing her, she probably tried to manipulate Todd against me since I came back to town.  I know how she can work and think and I want my son to see, for probably the first time in his life, what his mother is really like.”  He looked at them all.  “I have already tried to manipulate situations to that end.  I have probably just as much of a bad reputation in this town as Todd does in Llanview.  But I swear to you, I am positive that Carly is trying to him what she did do to me.”

Blair looked to Viki, but it was Starr who spoke up.  “I’ve seen how you work and I know what this is costing you right now.”  The image of Michael turning his back on AJ and the look of sorrow on the older man’s face at the courthouse flashed in her mind.  “Any help you can give us, thank you.  I know my mother and my aunt agree.”

There was a knock at the door, and Viki let in the court official for the inspection.  It was a short visit and he felt sure the judge would agree to Scott Baldwin’s recommendation.  When he left AJ was preparing to get his coat.  “I was wondering, I can see that you are still not set up here.  Why don’t you come over to my mother’s house?  You can talk to her, cause I know she has her opinions of Carly.  Maybe even my Aunt Tracy.  I think she had some hand in the payoff for the water toxin blackmail.  From what I heard, Todd spearheaded that action."

Viki turned to Blair and Starr, who both nodded.  “That is very generous.  Any other perspective on her can only help Todd.”

He opened the door, but before he left, he assured them he’d call as soon as he got back for a time for dinner.  He smiled and he was gone.

******

Michael had decided to go back to his apartment but Sonny felt someone needed to tell Carly about the developments at the courthouse.  He found her at the front desk reviewing something on the computer.  She caught sight of him, and came over.

“I just wanted to let you know, Manning is going to be making bail.  I’m sorry, but his lawyer felt that he could be in danger if he was sent to Pentonville for his trial.”  Sonny scratched the back of his head.  “My presence there may have had something to do with it.  From what Baldwin’s deal seems to be, he’ll be under house arrest.  He said that the ex, Blair, got them an apartment about a mile away from here.”

“Unbelievable,” Carly commented contemptuously.  “I can’t believe she’s standing up for him.”  Carly turned around and headed for the desk.  She grabbed a file and handed it to Sonny.  “You know, there are other victims of his.  Not just the woman in college, Marty Saybrooke.  There was another one, Carol Swift, I think and he was accused of raping his girlfriend, a Rebecca Lewis.  But, from what I read, he found an alibi for that one, the Saybrooke woman.  Kind of convenient, wouldn’t you say?”

Sonny flipped through the file.  “Does the DA know about this?”

“I went in to talk to him and he told me the DA down in Llanview has been all kinds of helpful.  She was his attorney from the gang rape.  He confessed to her and she ended up throwing the case.  She’s even trying to find the first victim, but she seems to have vanished,” Carly informed him.

Sonny looked up from the file and, for a minute, thought he saw something in her eyes.  He couldn’t put his finger on it.  He moved in to comfort her.

She leaned her head on his shoulder.  “You know, guys like this, they get off on it and they keep getting off on it.”

As those words were coming from her lips, Luke walked in and stopped for a minute.  He had heard what she said and his crime flashed before him.  He was about to approach her when she turned away from Sonny.  “I just want to get on with my life.  Part of me just wants it to be over.”

“Have you thought about going to counseling or talking to someone?  I know Liz Webber, it happened to her when she was still a kid—“

“No,” Carly said too harshly.  Then she composed herself.  “I don’t want any pity from her.”

“But she may be able to help.”

“I said no, Sonny.  Drop it.”  Then she turned back to Sonny and Luke saw the full force he knew as Carly Benson.  “I think AJ may be a problem.  He was here when Blair and Starr cleaned out Todd’s suite and he seems to have taken their side.”

“AJ is going to use them to manipulate Michael, but it won’t work.  He saw AJ after the arraignment and walked right past him,” Sonny told her.

“Are you sure?  We thought that about your little boxing match, but AJ copped to it.”

“This time, I’m sure,” Sonny assured her.  “Hey, you are one of the strongest women I know.  I will help you through this, okay?”

Carly nodded, a tear falling down her cheek.  Sonny kissed her on the cheek and left, never noticing Luke.  Neither did Carly, it seemed, because Luke saw that fiendish smile appear on his niece’s face.  He got on to the next elevator and made sure he was the only one on as he said, “Damn it, why did Baldwin have to be right!”