In His Corner, Chapter 14

Chapter 14

There was something thrilling to Starr about working side by side with her dad.  Sure, they had worked together in the past, but that was more to cause chaos and destruction.  But this was keeping the best kind of a family tradition.  And, lord knew, in their family, there were very few of those they wanted to even acknowledge.

There was also another reason why Starr would be staying at the apartment.  Well, two.  One was to make sure he didn’t try to flee.  None of the women thought he would, but with Todd, you never knew.  But mainly, they needed to get as much information from him about his friendship with Carly as possible.  It was still stunning to Starr how close her dad had become to Michael’s mother over the past several months.  She had never seen him even want to cozy up to any other women other than Blair Cramer.  And when she had broached the subject after her mother had returned to Llanview in the summer, what he had said to her about the subject seemed to solidify that.

What had changed that would make her dad get close to Carly?  She hoped he would open up to her.

“So, where do we start?” Starr asked.

Todd was clicking around the computer.  “Probably should wait till your mother gets into the office.  I’ve been away for so long, I don’t even remember what I’ve got on my desk.”

Starr nodded when a thought popped into her head.  “Dad, did you really let Connie steal Molly Lansing’s novel?”

Todd swallowed at that question.  Well, she had learned all of his deep, dark secrets, how much worse could one more be?  “Yes, Starr, I let her take credit for the book,” he admitted, unwilling to face her.

“Why?” she asked.  In the accumulation of bad things her dad had done, while this wasn’t awful, it was confusing.

“Well, ‘let her’ is kind of a strong word.  Look, I left it on my desk when I went down to blow your mother’s fiancé’s cover.  Best I can tell, she waltzed in, was bored and figured on doing a little light reading.  When I got back, it wasn’t in the office anymore,” Todd tried to explain.  “Hey good news is, if a crazy lady thought it was at least a good enough starting point, it must have actually been good.”

“But why didn’t you call her out on it?”

“When the editor called me, he told me it would be the next ‘Fifty Shades’.”  Todd’s brow furrowed.  “How does a high schooler even know about that stuff?” he asked, his face morphing into his ‘Ewww’ expression.

“What are you...?”  It hit Starr.  “She changed the book!”

“Yeah,” he replied sadly.  “And according to Molly and her boyfriend, she lost all copies of the original manuscript, so she has no leg to stand on in an intellectual property case, no matter how much her mother huffs and puffs.  Connie kept the basic structure but added in all the juicy bits.”

“Skank,” Starr muttered.

“Exactly.”

From their conversation, Starr had now found her way into her information gathering project.  “I’m guessing Carly wasn’t too fond of you working with Connie, huh?”

“Well, after she stole her man and publicly humiliated her, yeah, there was some conflict there.  But Connie working for me, it was all part of her having one over on Johnny and Johnny…”  Todd turned away from Starr again, staring at the computer.  “Carly came to see me, that night.  Let me have it.  Asked if I knew about him and Connie.  Of course, you had just stopped by and told me, so yeah, I knew from you.  I also knew cause Connie told me.  It was kind of brilliant, making Johnny pay for what he did without getting my hands dirty.  Make him suffer without the woman he was trying to make a life with.  And bonus, I’d avoid yet another murder trial.”  He took a breath then added, “Still don’t know what Carly saw in Johnny in the first place.  A beautiful woman like that, with a low-life like that.  She deserved better.”

“Like you?” Starr queried.

“No, better than me.  She had better than me, better than Johnny Zacchara.  Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Australian billionaire.  Best hand-shake I ever got,” he said, “and she let him go back to the Outback.”  Todd shook his head.  “No, I’m no good for anybody.”

******

Scott Baldwin had finished up in court and decided to head back to the MetroCourt to start going over some paperwork.  He walked through the lobby, not noticing anyone and approached the main desk.  “Is there any mail for me?”  The desk clerk handed him some envelopes and as he turned around towards the elevator, he ran square into Luke.  “Spencer.”

“Baldwin.”  Luke let the name hang there for a minute.  “We need to talk.  In private.”

“When and where?”

“Now.  Follow me.”  With that Luke turned his back.  Scotty followed him and they arrived at the Spoon Island Dock.

Scott looked around.  “We’re here, we’re alone.  What do you want to talk about?”

Luke still had his back to the lawyer, but he turned and decked him. 

Scotty fell back and held his cheek.  “What the hell was that for?!”

For his part, Luke seemed to be nursing his own fist.  “That’s for you being right, damn it!”  Luke tried to shake off the pain that was now emanating from his hand. 

Scotty had recovered sufficiently and had to smirk.  “I guess I was right about Carly,” he stated.

“It’s looking that way,” Luke admitted.

“What makes you say that?”

“I caught the tail end of a conversation between her and Sonny after Manning’s arraignment, I guess.  She was saying how just wanted to go on with her life.  Sonny asked her if she’d consider talking to someone, like Liz Webber.”  Luke’s eyes got that faraway look, remembering the night she had come down the stairs in his house after her own attack.  “She wouldn’t even consider it.  Not that that in itself surprises me.  But after Sonny left, she got this look in her face.”  He had to chuckle.  “When she’s got a con going, she looks just like her momma.”

“Well, that in and of itself isn’t proof, Spencer,” Scotty said.

“But it is that thing, reasonable doubt, right?”  Luke replied.

“Well, it could cast a measure of doubt, but I need more,” Scotty said.

Luke let out a melodramatic sigh.  “Fine then, I’ll help you find what you need…”

“Thank you Spencer.”

“But I want to talk to Manning myself.”

Baldwin stopped short.  “I don’t think that’s such a hot idea.”

“My terms,” Luke told him.

Scott clenched his jaw.  “Luke, when I took his case, I told his family a little bit about the dynamics between you, me, Bobbie and Laura.  Then, I told him…about you and Laura.”  Scotty turned his back as he explained, “His reaction wasn’t good.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed.  “He’s in the same boat as me, Baldwin.”

“It wasn’t…what you have in common.  It was more a reaction to Laura.”  Scotty walked back to Luke.  “Listen, I’ve read over the trial notes from the Saybrooke case.  It was brutal.  In his mind, I’d say he can’t comprehend any woman staying with a man who did that to her.”

Luke thought about it.  “Where is he?”

Scotty paused.  “He’s under house arrest in the Islandview Apartments, #505.  I managed to argue for it over Pentonville.  Sonny being there helped.”

“Well, Corinthos is protective of my sweet niece to start with and because of Deke, has a thing against abusive men in general.  It’s probably a smart move.”  He turned to go. 

“Spencer, I’m warning you,” Scott called after him.  Luke turned back.  “Manning is volatile on a good day.  Just, proceed with caution.”  Luke nodded and left Scott behind, as the other man wished he could be a fly on that apartment wall.

******

As screwy as Todd’s personal life tended it be, Blair was often amazed at how well-ordered his business life remained.  She knew him well enough to be able to walk into his office and find everything needed for the day ahead.

She was just about to connect the video conferencing interface when she heard the clopping, heeled boots on the tile floor in the reception area.  Leaning her forehead in her hand, she didn’t even need to see who it was who opened the office door.  “I thought we had this discussion already, Carly?”

“And I thought I told you, I wanted this place cleared out?” Carly retorted.

Blair looked up at the other woman.  “Well, as it turns out, I was right.”  She stood, legal papers in hand.  “Todd’s lawyers confirmed this is still a binding contract.  ME is staying here right here in the MetroCourt.”  She turned around and headed back to the desk.

“Why are you defending him?” Carly asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Why are you accusing him?”

“Because he raped me,” she said, almost automatically.  “Guess our first time was so good, he wanted more.  But after I learned all his dirty little secrets, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“You and Todd actually went to bed?” Blair asked, incredulously.  She knew Todd and knew his sexual hang-ups.  The admission surprised her, to say the least.

“New Year’s Eve, actually.  We were ready to put our pasts behind us,” she told the other woman, a catty smile on her face.

“And then the truths all came out?” Blair replied, an equally bitchy smile on hers.  She shook her head.  “I warned you Carly, about trusting Todd.”

“And yet, you’re here, standing by him.  Why?”

“Because, I know Todd.  I know things he’d do and things he wouldn’t do, and what you are accusing him of, falls into the latter category.”  Blair sat back down in the chair.  “Now, our business is complete, I’d say.  Next time you need to speak to me, call first and I’ll see if I can fit you in.  Goodbye.”  With that, Blair looked at the work on her desk.  When she heard the elevator arrive, she put her head back on the chair and stared up at the ceiling. 

She knew she had no right to be jealous.  She and Todd were not together at the time.  She also recognized a gut shot when she saw one.  Carly had told her about their romp to throw her off.  Blair closed her eyes and smiled as she found the memory she was looking for.  Todd’s lips on her centered her and comforted her.  When she opened her eyes again, she turned on her computer and contacted Todd and Starr.