In His Corner, Chapter 2

 Consciously, Viki knew her brother was capable of despicable deeds.  She had known him enough years to roll through them in her head.  Lying, kidnapping, even murder, he had done them all.  And yet, that was one crime she could never see him do.  Again.

Before she had known him as her brother, the product of her father’s affair with her college roommate, she had known him as a friend and fraternity brother of her son Kevin.  And it was in her kitchen that he, Kevin, Zach Rosen and Powell Lord, III had been arrested for the gang rape of Marty Saybrooke.  She knew that side of him, the one that had painted Marty as having wanted it.  It was a side she had not seen in Todd since those college days.

That was why, when Starr had made her plea for help, the accusation itself had not computed to Viki.   Too much had happened, Todd had come too far.  The specter of Victor Lord had reared its head and she knew it did not belong.  She knew she needed to go and help Starr and him.  But first, she had to get Blair out of Llanfair. 

In a quiet tone, she said, “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.  Stay calm, please, Starr.”  Her niece was thanking her when she ended the call.

“What is going one?” Blair asked, concern on her face.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Viki replied, hoping that Blair would drop it.

No such luck.  “I heard Starr say rape.  Was Todd…?”  The thought was unfathomable.

“You have too much here to worry about,” Viki reassured her.  “I’m going to go up and see what Starr is talking about.  I’m sure it was nothing.”  Yet Viki knew it was far from nothing.

“He didn’t do it.”  The words came out of her mouth before her brain had time to process the thought.  Her back straighten with resolve.  “’I’m going with you.”

“Blair, there is no need for you to go.  You still have Tomas to worry about.  Todd is no longer your concern,” Viki tried to assuage her. 

“I am going.  He needs someone in his corner.” Without another comment from the blond, she found Sam, got his coat on and headed towards the door.  “I’m going to let Momma know that I’ll be out of town, pack a bag and be back here in an hour.  Don’t leave without me.”

Mercifully, Sam didn’t talk a lot on the way home.  When they got back to La Boulaie, she hurried upstairs, calling for Addie Cramer as she threw some things into a bag.  Her mother appeared at her bedroom door.  “Momma, I need to get to Port Charles.  I should only be a few days.  Can you keep an eye on the boys?”

“Of course, my dear.  Oh, no, has something happened to Starr?”  Addie asked, worriedly.

Again, without thinking, Blair said, “No, Todd’s been accused of rape.”

“He didn’t do it,” came Addie’s firm response.  There was no hesitation in her voice.  “Todd would never do that again.”  She came over to her and put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.  “You’re going to be there to stand by him, aren’t you?”

“I…need to be there for Starr.  She’s been through this too many times before,” Blair tried to say.

“Bullshit.”  Her mother’s comment shocked her.  She could never remember a time when Addie Cramer had used such language.  “You are going because Todd needs you.  He’s always needed you, even when he thought he didn’t.”  She kissed her on the cheek.  “Go be with the man you love and stand by him.  He will need you most of all.  Don’t worry about the boys; I’ll keep an eye on them.”  With that, she left her daughter.

Blair couldn’t catch her breath.  She closed her eyes and when she reopened them sought out her cell phone from her purse.  Thumbing through the pictures, she found the one she was looking for.  It helped her regain a sense of equilibrium.  She stroked it again and went back to work packing her bag.  That task done, she clicked the picture off, the image of her and Todd on their wedding day going dark.

******

Of course, when you need to get out of town in a hurry, it was only natural that Mother Nature would throw you a curveball in regards to the weather.  The airline had said it was only going to be an hour delay, but it felt longer. 

Viki took a few minutes to stretch her legs.  When she returned, she noticed Blair was engrossed in something on her phone.  She saw the younger woman looking sadly at a picture and then noticed what it was of.  She came back to sit down next to her and asked in a near whisper, “Why did you agree to marry Tomas?”

Blair felt like she should jump at the question but her body made no such move.  She looked back at the picture.  “Because loving your brother has never not broken my heart.  I couldn’t do that again and Tomas seemed like the safer choice.  Even after Todd proposed.”

“Todd proposed?” Viki had never heard this.

Blair put the phone away and turned to the other woman.  “When I went to see Starr perform in July, we had dinner afterwards and Todd thought…Todd thought that because Tomas wasn’t with me that I had broken up with him.  We kissed and he proposed, just like he did on his plane all those years ago.”  When she noticed Viki’s look, she explained, “When he proposed then he had the ring box turned away from me.  I think he was just so nervous.  But he did it again this time.”

“And you turned him down.”  It was a statement, not a question.

“I was already engaged to Tomas,” she replied defiantly.

“Do you love Tomas?”  There was too long of a wait for a response for there to be any other answer.  “Then why did you stay engaged to him?  Even after there were questions about his identity?”

The answer would have to wait, as they were called for boarding.  As they waited their turn, Blair’s phone rang.  She saw that the call was from Tea.  That was the last person she wanted to talk to.  She hit ignore and switched the phone to airplane mode as she stepped onboard.

They were at cruising altitude when Blair noticed a distant look in Viki’s eyes.  “What’s on your mind?”

Viki looked back at her.  “I’m remembering the night before the wedding in that picture and I’m remembering…telling Todd about my father.”  Blair reached out and placed her hand on the other woman’s.  “Blair, I have never seen him in so much pain as I did that night.  Not even after he came home from Ireland.  That is why I can’t believe this charge.  It goes totally against where he has come from since then.”

Blair nodded.  “When I told Momma why I was going, she said outright he didn’t to it.”  Her mother’s certainty was what she was clinging to, as Viki was clinging to her memory of a long ago night.  She tried to reassure Viki with, “There has got to be more here than we know.  I just hope Starr has some answers for us.”

“We will learn the truth.  I just pray that it is a false accusation.  I just pray.”