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.”