In His Corner-Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Buoyed by his talk with Spencer, Scott Baldwin stepped into the interrogation room at the PCPD and felt a fresh wave of good fortune wash over him.  Standing in the back of the room was his client engulfed in the embrace of his ex-wife and daughter.  He knew from the dinner last night that they were totally on Todd’s side.

“That’s the image I’m looking to project with a jury, if it gets that far.  Todd Manning, family man,” Scotty said, an all-too-pleased-with-himself smile on his face.  “Maybe we can get your son and nephew up here too, as character witnesses.”   

“Absolutely not.”  Todd’s voice rang with the warning of not being overruled on this.  He wiped the tears on his shirtsleeve and composed himself.  “Sam’s too young and Jack’s more likely to testify for the prosecution.”

Scotty looked towards Blair and her expression was the same as her ex’s.  The attorney decided to move on.  “The arraignment isn’t until this afternoon so someone needs to get back to the hotel and get him a change of clothes.”

“I asked at the front desk if we could clear Todd’s belongs out, but I was informed it was still a crime scene and nothing can be removed,” Viki told them.  “I’ll head over to Wyndham’s and get you a new suit right now.”  She walked over to Todd and kissed him on the cheek.  “You will get through this.  It will be rough, but you will.  See you in a bit.”

Todd looked to Blair.  “At least she’s not buying my underwear this time.  I just hope she knows to look in the men’s department,” he remarked snidely.

Scott didn’t get the whole meaning but found the banter amusing.  “Now, being that you’re a media mogul, that takes a good chunk of the press out of play.  The Sun’s circulation here in Port Charles is the best I’ve ever seen for a PC rag.  That works to our advantage.”

“Speaking of the Sun,” Todd brought up to lighten his mood, “who’s keeping an eye on my paper?”

Blair looked at Starr then back at Todd.  “I’m sure you’ll get bail, so it shouldn’t be alone for too much longer.”

Todd let out with a cross between a laugh and a snort.  “Bail, right.  What judge in their right mind would grant me bail?  Seriously, after my last stay in custody, I really don’t see that happening.” 

“Dad, come on, it could happen,” Starr said to him, trying to cheer him up.  She could see how his mood was turning.

“Starr, you didn’t get bail even with your clean record.  Me?  Convicted rapist, arrested for the murder of my brother and a laundry list of other crimes.  Chances of bail: slim to none.”  He sat back.  “In all honesty, the paper is the least of my concerns.”

“I’ll run it for you, if they deny the bail,” Blair offered.  When Todd looked at her, she reminded him, “I’ve run the paper in the past.  And to paraphrase someone we both know, if you started when you were barely an adult, it can’t be that hard.”

Todd looked at her agog.  “Really?  You’re quoting Tina at this moment?”  Then he softened.  “But you have done it in the past and you’re the only one I really trust with it.”  He nodded to her in agreement.

“Alright, there really isn’t much more we can do know.  I just need a few minutes alone with my client, ladies, if you’d please. 

Blair and Starr looked from Baldwin to Todd, understanding that there may be other things they needed to talk about.  Starr gave her father another hug and Blair kissed him full on the lips. 

When they had cleared out of the room, Scott turned to Todd.  “There are some things I need to talk to you about.  Some of it is about this case and some of it is about me personally.  I guess I’d better get it out of the way now.”

Todd got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

******

Viki decided to kill time waiting for the tailor to work on Todd’s suite by looking around Wyndham’s.  It had the same homey feel of Logan’s Department Store back in Llanview.  She wasn’t exactly looking where she was going when she walked into another woman.  “Oh, I am so sorry.  I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, that is perfectly okay,” the other woman said as she looked up.  She was stunned speechless, but Viki had no reason to know why.

“I’m sorry, do we know each other?” she asked politely.

The woman blinked a few times but shook her head.  “We’ve never met but I know who you are.  Victoria Lord Carpenter, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yes, though I haven’t been Carpenter for a number of years.”  Even after her divorce from Charlie, she had reverted back to Ben’s name and with her engagement to Clint on hold that was how she was still known professionally.

 

“I know about you from a court case.”  She held out her hand.  “I’m sorry, Alexis Davis.”

Viki had a sneaking suspicion she knew which case it was, if she was being referred to by Sloan’s last name.  “Commonwealth vs. Carpenter?”

Alexis looked rather sheepish for some reason.  “I’m guessing you’re here because of your brother,” she asked, dropping the line of inquiry.

While it was not much better of a topic, Viki was relieved at the change in subject.  “Yes, his arraignment is this afternoon.  We can’t get into his suite to get him clothes so I offered to get him something.”

“If you do manage to get back into his room, tell me if you find a manuscript there,” Alexis remarked.  When Viki gave her a quizzed look, Alexis expounded.  “Your brother and his associate, Connie Falconeri, conspired to steal a manuscript written by my teenage daughter.  Add to that the fact that he kidnapped my grandson.”

Viki took a deep breath.  She had found more victims of Todd’s lies.  “I am very sorry for the time you lost with your grandson.  I know what Todd’s intentions were but they were never done out of spite.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Mrs. Davidson, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Excuse me.”  With that, Alexis left.

And once again, Todd had left a path of almost unbearable destruction. 

******

Blair walked into the offices of Manning Enterprises.   Looking around, they were Todd’s typical minimalist décor.  She walked into his office, touching the nameplate on the door.  TODD MANNING, PUBLISHER.  It was what she had felt he had been born for.  She only hoped she could keep things going until the mess was over. 

She sat down and opened his computer.  Password protected, of course.  She tried the kids’ names, then Sam’s then Hope’s, but it wouldn’t budge.  She even tried hers but still nothing.  It then offered her a clue, saying ‘mother of my children’.  She typed in her name than added another word.  BLAIR MANNING worked and the computer booted up.

“Oh, Todd, don’t change,” she said to no one in particular. 

“Don’t worry, he assured me people don’t change,” voice said from the doorway.

Blair looked up and saw Carly standing there.  “Can I help you, Mrs. Jacks?” she asked.

Carly moved towards her and handed her a bunch of papers.  One was a restraining order, another was an eviction order.  “Just in case that rapist gets out on bail,” she informed Blair.

“Well, as luck would have it, I found a place for him to come home to when he does get out on bail.”  It wasn’t a lie.  Blair had contacted a realtor first thing in the morning and found a furnished two-bedroom.  Viki would be staying at the MetroCourt but Blair wanted to get herself, Starr and Todd out of there as soon as possible.  “As for the eviction notice, I know how Todd tends to operate in a business capacity.  He would have all his bases covered with regards to leases, so something tells me that one has no legs to stand on.”

Carly only responded with, “See that he’s out of here by tomorrow.”

Blair stood up as she turned.  “I will be contacting Todd’s lawyers on this.  And Carly,” the other woman turned back to her, “next time, knock before you enter this office while I’m here.”

    

Carly just huffed before she turned around and left.

Blair sat back down and began to seek out anything she could find on his computer.  Going through each of the files, she found what she was looking for.  Again, she said, “Don’t ever change” with a smile on her face.