Through the Darkness, Chapter Seven

CHAPTER 7     

August, 2013

Dinner that night had been pizza, if for no other reason than Dorian had a dinner date with Carl.  After inhaling nearly half a pie, Jack went into his room and made the connection back to the Llanview Hospital network.  He laughed at how simplistic the system was.  All he needed was the date and the wing and he was able to begin his search.

Looking up the night of August 11^th, he stumbled, first, on the feed from the waiting room.  As Matthew had said, he was there with Natalie and another girl he had learned from Dani was his girlfriend, Michelle.  Jack then saw Natalie get into it with an officious-looking man which was, again, matching what was told to him.  Matthew left and Natalie was taken away with the hospital employee. 

Jack then looked up the floor that the psych ward was in and found the corresponding feed.  Natalie was still with the man.  He saw his cousin walking into a room and her back stiffen.  Jack squinted, trying to see her face, but it did no good.  Natalie’s back was to the camera and it made it impossible to see her face.

But then, the video changed angles.  Jack hoped it would give him a frontal view of the redhead, but it seemed to be aimed in a totally different direction.  Jack played around for a while longer, but he couldn’t find a shot of Natalie in her father’s room.  After a while, he noticed her being led out of the hospital.

Had Todd been right?  Could she had seen Clint and just tried to spare her mother from whatever bad shape he’d been in?  He saved the footage and was just about to shut down the link when he caught half a face on the screen.  The image was blurry and black and white, but he thought he knew the face.  He made a screencap of it and shut the computer down.

The next morning, he arrived in his mother’s office at The Sun.  She was finishing up the morning editorial meeting and he stood in the back listening to her.  He’d never seen his mother take charge on such a large scale and, in a business he had never known her to be in.  He was impressed, nonetheless, with the way she delegated orders and was obeyed. 

Once everyone had filed out, she gave him a warm smile.  “Come to help your mother out here?” she asked.

“You seemed to have everything well under control,” he answered, impressed by the display. 

He went back to the door and locked it.  Blair knew something was up, as he clearly didn’t want anyone to disturb them.  “You got something for me?” she asked.

Jack took a deep breath.  “Yes, but you’re not gonna like how I got it.”

Blair steeled herself.  But then she reminded herself, he was Todd’s son.  She had issues with a lot of how Todd did things, but more often than not let them slide.  “What did you find out?”

Jack opened his computer to the footage he had saved last night.  Blair watched as Natalie was led from the waiting room to the hallway outside Clint’s room.  She saw the younger woman stiffen when she entered the room.  But, after that, there was nothing.  “Well, we know Matthew was telling the truth.  But why wouldn’t Natalie say anything?”

“Well, maybe…didn’t you say that Aunt Viki was opposed to Natalie going to the hospital in the first place?  Maybe she didn’t want to tell Aunt Viki how bad he really was,” Jack offered, relaying Todd’s thought from the previous night.  “And there’s one other thing too.”  He brought the screen shot up as well.  “The image is fuzzy, but I think I recognize--”

“Oh my God!” Blair gasped.  She would know that face, even the little she could distinguish of it.  “This is not good.”

“You recognize her?” Jack asked.

Blair nodded vigorously.  “That’s Allison Perkins,” she said, pointing to the screen.  She put her hand to her forehead.  Her first instinct was to call Bo, Todd’s warnings be damned.  Then, as if remembering her son’s warnings, she turned to him.  “How did you get all this?”

Jack’s face flushed with guilt.  He knew he’d probably be in a lot of trouble for his methods.  “I hacked the hospital’s security cameras,” he admitted sheepishly.

Blair’s face was unreadable for a minute, but then broke into a wide smile.  “You really are taking after your father, you know that?  Breaking through security systems all over town.  Remind me to tell you about the night the lights went out in Llanview for a fireworks show.”  She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.  Jack eased up, surprised that no lecture was going to be hitting him.  “We’ll have a talk about that later,” his mother told him, “but not right now.”  She looked back at the screen.  “Now, we have to figure a way for Bo to find it on his own.”

They brainstormed for a while about how to lead the LPD to the video without incriminating themselves, but could come up with anything.  Then, Jack had an idea.  “What if we don’t bring it to Bozo directly?  What if we have someone else bring it to his attention?  Someone he trusts more than either of us.”  Before his mother could answer, he was out the door.

As luck would have it, his cousins Natalie and Jessica were relaxing outside the coffee shop together without their kids.  This could work out better than he thought.  He strolled over to the table.  “Hey Nat, Jess.”

The twins seemed surprised to see him, by their initial reactions.  But while Natalie remained a bit suspicious, Jessica offered him a warm smile.  “Hi Jack,” she said, as always the epitome of politeness.  She was definitely more a Lord.

“How’s your Dad doing?” Jack asked, at least showing concern. 

“Cord’s still trying to get in to see him, but the doctors are telling him that Dad’s under heavy sedation.  They’re trying to find the cause,” Jessica answered.

Before Jack could ask anything else, another voice joined the conversation.  “Beyond the fact that Viki broke his heart when she ended the engagement?” Matthew Buchanan chimed in.  When the two women flashed their other cousin dangerous looks, Matthew returned a contrite look.  “Sorry, but Uncle Clint was real generous to her to help her save The Banner.  I still don’t see what the problem is.”

“The problem, Matthew, is that he did it in an underhanded way.  If he’d been honest with Mom, she wouldn’t have broken up with him,” Natalie retorted.       

   

Matthew threw his hands up in defeat and maneuvered around the table to head to the shop door.  Jack saw his opportunity and went for it.  “Matthew, didn’t you tell me when you left the hospital that night, Natalie had been taken down to see Clint?”

Matthew turned around and narrowed his eyes.  “Yeah, I did.  Why do you ask?”

Natalie shook her head at her cousin’s response.  “No, I never went down to see Dad.  Remember, they wouldn’t let me.  You and your date took me home.”

Now it was Matthew who looked confused.  “Nat, you were ready to tear the place apart to see Uncle Clint.  They tried to tell you it wasn’t possible, but you made them.  I left with Michelle, but you were taken by the administrator to see him.”

Jessica looked between her sister and her cousin.  “Are you sure, Matthew?” 

Matthew rolled his eyes at the two.  “Does it sound out of character that Natalie would be so…forceful?”  Then he looked at Natalie, who had a faraway look in her eyes.

Jack watched the back and forth, secretly pleased with himself, but at the same time growing concerned.  He hoped he hadn’t loosened a screw in Natalie’s head.

Jessica noticed how quiet her sister had gotten.  “Nat?” she asked.  When there was no response, Jessica repeated in a louder voice, “Natalie, are you alright?”

Finally, the redhead reacted.  “I…uh…” came the unintelligible answer.  Jack could almost see her brain straining for the memories.  Then she blinked twice.  “I…am…remembering…”  Her eyes closed for a short time then flew open.  “Oh my God!”  She gasped for breath.  “I remember being led down and I remember going in.  Dad was restrained to the bed and then…”

“What happened next?” Jessica asked.

“I don’t, I don’t remember,” Natalie responded.  “It’s a blank.”

“But something had to happen, right?” Jack asked, hoping it was enough to make her go to Bo.

She turned to Jack.  “I don’t know, but I am missing time.  It’s like, I go from the hospital to my apartment, but I have no idea how I got there.”  She grabbed her things.  “I need to find some answers.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jessica said, getting up from the table.

“Me too,” Matthew added.

Even though he hadn’t been asked, Jack tagged along and they all headed to the police station.  When they got to Bo Buchanan’s door, they heard voices shouting.  One of them was, uncharacteristically, Cord Roberts.

“Then why is your signature on the commitment papers for St. Ann’s, Bo?” Cord asked.

“I have no idea, but I haven’t even been to the hospital to see him,” Bo answered, a note of regret in his voice. 

At that point, the younger generation crashed through the door.  “You had dad committed?” Natalie called out, her purpose for being there forgotten.

Bo turned and saw his son, nieces and Jack standing there.  He rolled his eyes at them.  “I just told Cord, I didn’t sign any papers, for anything, regarding Clint!”

Jessica snatched the papers from her uncle and Natalie looked over her sister’s shoulder at them.  “I’ve seen your signature enough times, Bo and that’s it.”

At that, Jack walked over and studied the autograph.  Jessica had flipped through the numerous pages and each time, Jack’s eyes went to the “BO BUCHANAN” at the appropriate place.  The Buchanan kids were arguing back and forth with Bo so much, no one noticed Jack slip the document out of Jessica’s hand.  He flipped back and forth, examining each signature.  Then, he noticed it.  “Hey, Bo,” he piped up.  No one heard him.  “Commissioner?” he tried again.  Still, he couldn’t be heard.  Taking a deep breath, he yelled, “Hey Bozo!”

The room fell silent and everyone turned to him.  The police commissioner went red in the face with anger, but Jack didn’t let it affect him.  “What are you doing here, Manning?”

Jack ignored the question.  He grabbed a pad on the desk and handed it to him.  “Sign your name,” he told the older man.  When Buchanan didn’t take it, Jack pressed again, politer this time.  “Just trust me, please.”

Jack knew that was the last thing this man would do, but Bo took the pad and signed his name.  Jack looked at it and said, “Do it again.”  Bo’s eyes narrowed but he repeated the action.  When he was done, Jack made the request one last time.  When it was done, he then said, “Look at them.”

Matthew craned his neck.  “So, it’s three signatures.  So what?”

It was Natalie who caught it.  “But they’re all slightly different.”  She spun around and grabbed the papers from Jack’s hand.  “And all of these,” she point out examples on three different pages, “are all the same.  Exactly so, down to the last detail.”

“And that’s impossible, unless it’s manufactured somehow,” Jack added.

Natalie flashed him a smile.  “The Mannings are two and oh right now against the Buchanans,” she said.  “With the right equipment, manufacturing this is easy.”

“And with you being a very public figure who probably signs hundreds of papers a day, easy to obtain and copy with a computer,” Jessica added.

“But who would want to make it look like Uncle Bo agreed to this in the first place?” Natalie wondered aloud.

Bo was brought out of his stunned state to finally really notice everyone in his office.  “Why are you here anyway?”

Natalie blinked but didn’t answer.  It was Matthew who spoke up.  “Natalie said that she never was taken down to see Uncle Clint, but I remembered she was and now she realizes that she’s missing time from that night.”

“Yeah, she told Mom and me and Aunt Viki that, but Matthew told me differently and now, she too is remembering differently,” Jack added.

Natalie spent the next half hour going over everything from the night of the Man of the Year dinner.  When she was finished, Bo said, “I’m going to get in touch with the hospital.  I want to examine the security tapes, see if this can be backed up.  Something’s going on there, between your faulty memory and now, my phantom signatures. “

Jack smiled, pleased with the turn in events.  He looked at it watch.  Time to makes his excuses and leave.  He’d set them on a solid path, one he hoped would lead them to discover Allison Perkins.  “If you don’t need anything else, Commissioner, I need to get home.”

Bo grunted a response, but Jessica and Natalie, both with smiles on their faces, said their thanks.  He wanted to return the smile, but because he was unaccustomed to being praised for doing something right, he barely nodded his head in acknowledgement as he slipped out and headed home.