Through the Darkness, Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER 11

August, 2013

Jack admitted he didn't have much trust in either Cord Roberts or Brody Lovett beyond that fact that his father vouched for them.  And Todd didn’t vouch for anyone, so that in itself said something.  While Brody may have been a soldier, he had a lot of issues with PTSD.  As for Cord, Jack’s only encounters with that particular branch of the family had been with Aunt Tina when she’d come home for Victor’s will reading and what he’d seem then, he was kind of scared of.  Despite all that, when the two men, plus his cousin, Jessica stepped into Bo’s office, he was actually put at ease.  Which none of the people who had just arrived seemed to be, especially when Bo started.

“Okay, look, there’s a lot going on, but for right now, Brody, Jessica, I need you to take the Buchanan jet to LA and pick up Starr Manning,” Bo said.

“Starr, why?” Jessica asked as she looked from Bo to Jack.

“It’s very complicated and I think the family needs to be told all together,” Bo said.  “Brody, Jess, can you go and pick her up?”

Jessica still looked confused until Jack said, “Look, I trust you both and so does my dad,” he said.  Then, in a heavy voice, he added, “Todd saved your life once.  Can you do this for him, no questions asked?”

Jessica looked to Brody than back to Jack.  “I’ll call the pilot.  We’ll leave as soon as possible.” 

Jack smiled.  “Have Starr call me when you get there.  She’ll give you problems, but I’ll reassure her.”  She stepped out to make the call.

While they were waiting, Jack sidled up to Cord.  “Did you love my mother?” he asked.

He could see Cord was caught off guard by the question.  But he nodded yes.  “And I still care for her.  It’s love, but not the way I love your Aunt Tina.  And I suspect Blair still cares for me, but not the way she will always love Todd.”

“Mom and Aunt Tina don’t get along.”  It was not a question.

“No siree.  They’ve been at odds for a long time, longer than anyone even knew Victor Lord and Irene Manning had one son, let alone two.  And when it was revealed that not only was Todd that boy, but that Blair was already married to him, Tina ‘bout hit the roof,” Cord said, whistling.  “Tina tries to act like the protective big sister, but, well, because of a lot of her antics, it’s never been seen as genuine.”  Cord looked at Jack.  “Be honest.  How bad is this going to get?”

Jack didn’t want to answer and didn’t have to, because Jessica came back in.  “The pilot said he’d be ready in thirty minutes.  We’ll head to the airport so he can take off immediately.”  With that, the couple left.

Bo turned to Cord.  “Just for now, stay close to Llanfair.  Keep an eye out for Viki, Tina, anyone there.”  He tried to whisper, but Jack heard it all.

Cord agreed and he too, left. 

Bo then turned to Jack.  “What are you going to do until your sister gets here?”

Jack thought about it.  He looked at the clock on his phone and saw that it was nearly four.  “I guess, I’ll go home.  Try to hide.  I don’t think…I don’t think I can even face my mom, not after seeing…”  Jack felt his eyes grow wet, but he tried to hide it.  “This is reminding me of when Powell kidnapped Mom, Victor and Tea.  I was so scared then and now…”

“Hey, Jack, I may have had a lot of issues with your father and your uncle in the past, but I know both are fighters.  Todd left you with an important job…keep your family safe.  And right now, you’re going a great job at that,” Bo said, a reassuring smile on his face.  “Look, Castillo and evidence are still going over your computer.  If you want to stick around until there done, you’re welcome to.”

Jack saw that as a welcome refuge.  He nodded and pulled out his phone.

In her office at The Sun, Blair picked up.  “How’d everything go with Bo?” she asked when she saw her son’s name pop up.  

“There’s still going over it.  Bo said it’ll be a few more hours, so I’m going to stay here until they’re done,” Jack answered.  It wasn’t completely a lie, he told himself and from what he heard of his own voice, he sounded normal.

His mother must have bought it, because she said, “Then I’ll see you whenever you’re done.”

“Sure thing.  I love you, Mom,” Jack replied.

“Love you too,” Blair answered and the connection ended.  Then, there was a knock at the office door.  Blair looked up and took a deep breath.  Turning back to her work, she asked, “What do you want, Dorian?”

“I have a lot to say to you, Blair,” Dorian began.  At that, Blair’s whole body clenched.  “But I’m not going to get into it now.  I’m going to give you time to reconsider this, by yourself.”  Blair looked back at her aunt.  “Carl has some dinner engagements in DC and he invited me to attend them with him.  I still have a few friends down there and I told him I’d be happy to make contact with them for him.”

“You and Carl are getting close,” Blair stated.

“He’s a very charming, debonair man and we have many common interests.  And I think you need the time to think.”

“I’m not going to be reconsidering anything Dorian.  I always loved working here and Todd’s given me carte blanche.  Briggs and the editorial staff support me and Jack’s even been finding the time to help out,” she said.

She could see Dorian roll her eyes.  “Well, if that is your decision, then that is that.  But I would like you to think seriously who it is you are getting back into bed with…figuratively.”  Then Dorian came up to her and kissed each of her cheeks.  “I do think it is best that we give each other a little space.  I’ll be leaving from here.”  She looked at her watch.  “In fact, Carl should be downstairs now.  Tata, darling.”  With that, Dorian swept out of the room.

When she was ready to leave, as anxious as she was to get home to a mostly empty La Boulaie, Blair also thought about that big house once again being so empty.  She got a wild thought and, after initially dismissing it, she reconsidered and dialed a number.

The other end picked up and a soothing voice came on the line.  “Hello, Blair, how are you doing?”  Viki asked sweetly.

“I was wondering, would you like to be my guest for dinner at La Boulaie this evening?  Dorian just left to go out of town and Jack’s working on a project, so it’s just Sam and I,” Blair asked.

Viki paused for a minute.  “Oh, I’d love to, but Jessica and Brody were just invited out to dinner with a friend of Brody’s from the Navy.  They just left for Philadelphia.”  Then, after a minute, Viki offered, “Would you like to bring Sam over here?  He can play with Bree and Ryder while you visit.”

Blair thought about it.  It was a very kind offer, but she knew Tina and Cord were over at Llanfair.  Then, as if reading her mind, Viki said, “Cord and Tina also went out for the evening.”

Blair smiled.  “Then, yes, I’d love to come.  Let me close up the paper and pick up Sam.  We’ll be there in an hour.”

One hour later, Sam was scampering upstairs with Bree as Blair followed Viki into the library.  “Thank you for inviting me.  I was dreading going home to Dorian, but then, when she told me she would be out of town, I wasn’t looking forward to a basically empty house.”

“Blair, please, you are family.  You have been for a long time.  And besides, Sam and Bree get along like gangbusters.  I think they missed each other while Jessica was in London,” Viki said.

“Yes, he was always begging me to take him there to visit.  But, everything was so crazy, I never had the time,” Blair said as she poured herself a glass of water.

“Have things calmed down?” Viki asked in a sweetly sarcastic voice.

“Very true,” Blair agreed.  “They got really crazy when Victor burst in at the hospital.”  She slid over to the desk and looked at the two pictures Viki had of herself with Todd and Victor.  “I think back and I still can’t believe that I thought Victor was Todd.”

“We all did.  We were made to believe it and we never had a hint of what had really happened until Todd came back,” Viki said, rather sadly.  “It just…I can’t fathom what Todd went through all those years.  And now that Victor might…”

“Hey, Todd promised Tea he would bring Victor home to her.  And he’s let her down too much to take on any more guilt,” Blair told her sister-in-law.  “They’ll never be friends and I suspect there’ll be all-out war for the paper once they are all back home, but they will come home.”

“You’ve always been so sure about Todd.  Even through so many awful things he’s done,” Viki stated.

“Well, Tea had to help me get through this one.  But Todd has a reason to come home.”

“And when he does, I will throw you a wedding reception.”  Blair began to protest, but Viki was insistent, a smile spreading on her face.  “I will not take no for an answer.  From you or my brother.”

Blair leaned in and gave the older woman a hug.  “Thank you.  After what I’ve been going through the past day with Dorian…”

Viki’s eyes rolled in the back of her head.  “What’s she done now?”

“She found out I’m running The Sun.  And she’s not happy about it.  Wants me to think about who I’m getting into bed with,” Blair answered as she wore a wicked grin.  “ If only she knew!  And don’t worry, I’m keeping my end of the deal.  But I want to warn you, David is aware something is up.  Jack tried to make it sound like it was just sex, but sometimes, I swear, he can intuit things.  And he does tend to be like a dog with a bone.”

“Oh, if David wants to spill whatever beans he thinks he had to Dorian, that’s fine.  I was only joking anyway,” Viki replied.

Blair somehow doubted that but let it slide.  “Have you heard anything about Clint?” she asked, wanting to change the subject.

“No, but Cord found out that he’d been signed into St. Ann’s.  The strange thing is, Bo’s signature was the one on the commitment papers and he claimed he never saw them.”

Blair feigned not knowing any of this already.  “Really?  But how would they have gotten his signature?”

“Well, forging a signature isn’t very difficult nowadays and with Bo being such a prominent figure, I suspect it would be easy to obtain it.”

“Well, who would want to stash Clint in St. Ann’s in the first place?” Blair asked genuinely confused.

“I have no idea, but Cord is looking into it.  He went there today, but was told Clint is still under heavy sedation,” Viki replied.

It was then that the kids ran down complaining about being hungry.  Viki and Blair corralled them into the dining room and they enjoyed the meal that had been prepared.  As Blair sat back and ate, she took in the scene before her.  Her son was enjoying being in the company of his extended family, having something at his age that Blair had yearned for at that time.  Viki was, as always, the indulgent aunt and grandmother, enjoying the presence of her family around her.  In her mind’s eye, Blair saw Todd there, bickering with his sister over something while Jack and Starr copied the elder brother and sister.  Victor and Tea were off in a corner together, keeping to themselves as much as Viki would allow.  Even Tina was there, throwing dirty looks to Blair as Todd threw them to his other sister while Cord tried to hold his wife back.

Llanfair had always been a family home and, imagining the scene before her, Blair knew that it would be again.