Through the Darkness, Chapter Six

CHAPTER 6

August, 2013

Jack sat back.  “Isn’t this dangerous?  They said no contact,” he asked.

“I’ve never been one to play by the rules,” Todd said.  He shrugged his shoulders as he continued.  “I made sure I set up enough firewalls and rerouted this connection through enough addresses to get it lost somewhere in outer Mongolia.  Kid, you’re talking to a guy who shut down the power in Llanview to give your mother the perfect fireworks display.”  Jack noticed Todd’s face soften.  “All the same, let’s make this quick.  What’s been happening since I left?”

“Well, Clint Buchanan had a meltdown at that dinner that was supposed to be for him,” Jack began.

“Supposed to be?  What happened?”

“He slugged the bouncer outside of Shelter when he was drunk, got arrested by Bo who got the award because they took the award away from Clint for his display.  Then he crashed the dinner in a drunken rage and is in the psych ward at the hospital now.”

“And I missed all the fun,” Todd grumbled. 

“Here’s the weird thing though,” his son continued.  “Natalie told Mom, me and Aunt Viki that she wasn’t allowed to see him after it happened.  But I ran into Matthew Buchanan, who went to the hospital with her and he told me that when he left her there, she had just been taken to see her father.”

“So, Natalie’s a ditz.  Maybe Clint was so bad, she wanted to spare my sister,” Todd replied, but it was gnawing at him.  Natalie was the furthest thing from a ditz.

Jack gave him an exasperated look, as if he knew what Todd had just thought.  “That sounds more like the other redhead in this family who, by the way, is back in town.”

“Why the hell is Tina there?”

“Cord is taking over at BE while Clint’s in the looney bin, so she came with him.  We all had dinner over at Llanfair tonight, along with Jessica and the Navy SEAL,” Jack told him.  “Who, it turns out, is Ryder’s father.”

“Well, I’m happy for Jessica with that.  Considering what I heard about that Ford brother and what he basically did to her when she wasn’t all there.”  Todd tapped his forehead.  “How are she and Natalie getting along?  Since all the daddy questions have been cleared up?”

“They seemed fine.  But I think you may still be in the doghouse with the family, including Mom, for sending that picture.”

Todd actually looked a bit guilt-ridden.  “Well, in my defense, I was in a bad place mentally.”  But then he changed the subject.  “So, we have a soldier in the family and back in town?”  Todd sat back, gathering his thoughts.  “Look, if and only if, everything goes to hell, go to Brody.  He seems to have some sense of honor and a willingness to protect those he cares about.”  Then he sighed, adding, “And Cord.  With the history between him and your mother, he’ll help her if she needs it.  But only if all other options are off the table.”

Jack noticed Todd look away from the camera.  “Look, we should get off of this connection.  Don’t want to chance anything.  But, if you need me, I’ll have this connection on.  Just follow the directions like you just did and you’ll be able to reach me.”

“Where are you?” Jack asked.

“You know I can’t answer that, Jack,” Todd said, regretfully.  “Anyway, how is your mother?”

“She misses you.  I came home and found her crying about you.  I thought…I thought you hurt her again.  I kinda yelled at her about being with you, that it only brings her pain,” Jack said. 

“That’s what true love is, kid.  It’s nothing but pain.  But it’s a pain I, and your mother, are willing to endure,” Todd said at last.  “Give her a kiss for me.  And be wary, always.”  With that, the connection was broken.

Jack sat back, thinking over what Todd had said.  He knew Todd had an innate distrust of most people, the majority of them living in Llanview.  He also wondered what he meant by the comment about his mother’s history with Cord.  The next morning he found Blair alone downstairs and decided to ask her.  “So last night, I noticed you were talking to Cord about the past.  What happened back then?”

Blair looked up.  She had been expecting something along these lines since they’d gotten home.  “Before your father and I got together,” Blair said, “I was dating Cord Roberts.”

“Wasn’t he married to Tina?” Jack questioned.

“No, they were divorced at the time and I guess you could say I was one the rebound from Max,” Blair continued, settling in to tell the story.  “Cord was the type of guy I thought I should be with…handsome, rich, connected.  Max had gone back to his wife, and I was sort of friends with the town pariah, but Cord, he was the proverbial white knight.”

“What happened?”

“He was always rushing off to help his ex-wife.  She was trying to lure him back and he often used their kids as an excuse, so I was often left alone.”  Blair mind went to a Christmas Eve when that had happened.  “And, quite often, when it did happen, the town pariah kind of showed up, even if I didn’t want him there at the moment.”

“And you and Todd hooked up?”  Jack didn’t really want to know the answer to that question, but it fell out of his mouth.

“Yeah, we did.  Then, a few months later, when Todd had the ankle monitor removed, he wanted to put Llanview in his rearview mirror.  Before he left, I had him sign a note, promising to come back to visit me.  He did and a short time later, Cord called again, apologizing for not being here, but saying he got a lead on Victor Lord’s heir.  He found out the name of the mother, that it was Irene Manning.  And I looked at the note, signed by Todd Manning and it sort of clicked.”

“And then you went to lie to him that you were pregnant,” Jack surmised at last.

“That wasn’t my intention.  Before I could find him, I was told St. Ann’s needed money for Momma’s care and I couldn’t find Dorian at the time.  So, out of desperation, I lied to him and we got married.  And I also held back the truth about who he was.  It was actually Tina’s big mouth that informed him.  And by the time I was challenged about being pregnant, I actually was,” Blair said, her voice growing heavy with sorry for her lost son.

Jack got up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.  She returned to him a suspicious gaze.  He shrugged his shoulders.  “What, a son can’t kiss his mom?”  Then, before he got to the door, he asked, “I’m going over to see Larry Wolek.  You want to come?  He said he’d tell me more about Aunt Meredith.”

Blair was touched by the offer, but she turned it down.  Jack headed to the hospital and found Larry at his desk going through a book.  “Jack, glad you stopped by.  Come it,” he said.  Jack merely nodded as he stepped in.  He noticed then that the book was a photo album.  “I thought you might like to see some pictures of your Aunt Merrie.”  He pointed to one snapshot.  “Here’s our wedding day.”

Jack raised his eyebrows.  “Victor looks a little…stiff,” he commented.

“As I said, he didn’t approve of the match,” Larry reminded him. 

Turning the page, there was a shot of Aunt Viki and her sister, also from the wedding.  Jack looked at the picture, commenting,  “They look so different.  I mean, Aunt Viki is blond and all, and Aunt Merrie actually looks like Natalie, with the red hair and all.”

Larry smiled.  “It’s funny, but when I see Jessica and Natalie together, that the same thought I have.”  Going to another page, Jack saw a picture of Larry and Merrie holding a baby.  “That’s our son, Daniel.”

“He’s your only child?” Jack asked.  He wanted to get all his cousins straight at last.

“Yes.  He had a twin sister, but she was stillborn,” Larry answered with a heavy voice.  “It was very hard on both of us.  We had to call in a doctor for Merrie.”

“Someone should have called in a doctor for Tea,” Jack commented.  “I mean, not only having your baby die, but also to not be told about it till months later.”  A hard edge undercut his words.  “Did they say…|?”

“Respiratory issues,” his uncle answered.  “Her lungs were underdeveloped.”

Jack remembered his mother telling him about Victor’s son.  It was lung issues that caused him to die.  “Have you spoken to Tea about your daughter?  I mean, because of the weird way Victor was raised, I don’t think the doctors had a lot of medical history on him and I know after everything that happened, Tea was looking for answers.  It may have been something that, if they knew about your daughter…”  Jack figured it was a long shot, but he thought it could help bring peace to Tea if she knew some family history.

Larry smiled.  He was kind of surprised by Todd’s son.  “I think I might.  That’s a nice idea, Jack,” Larry complimented.  Before he could go on, though, there was a knock at the door and Cord Roberts stuck his head in. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were with someone,” Cord said.

“No, it’s okay.  I think Jack and I are done here,” Larry replied.  “What can I do for you?”

Cord looked towards Jack and he got the message.  “Maybe I can stop by again and you can tell me more about my aunt,” he said as he walked out the door.  He didn’t go very far, as he stopped and eavesdropped on the conversation on the other side.

“Maybe you can help me out.  I know the seventy-two hour hold is over for Clint, but they are still refusing to let me see him.  Is there anything you can do?” Cord asked.

“I’m no longer Chief of Staff here, Cord.  I don’t know what I can do,” the doctor admitted. 

“Can you get his medical records, at least?  You’re still his doctor, aren’t you?”

“I can ask.  Say I need to see it for his medical files,” Dr. Wolek admitted.  “Also, I can make sure they’re giving him his heart medication.”    

“Anything you can do.”  Jack didn’t hear anything after that, as he realized the conversation was coming to an end and he didn’t want to be caught listening in.  He headed towards the exit when he remembered observing the security office the last time he’d been there.  Thinking quickly, he made it look like he stumbled a bit and dropped his cellphone, aiming it for inside the office. 

The security guard heard him and got up.  Jack got up, as the man reached for the phone.  “You drop this?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m a bit of a klutz,” he said as he went to the door of the office.  He stood there for a minute and took a quick look around.  He then shook himself out of his staring when the guard nudged the phone at him.  “Oh, sorry,” Jack said, taking it back.  The guard just gave him a look then sat back down.

But Jack had taken enough of the room in to see how the CCTV was connected.  He headed home and opened his computer immediately.  A few keystrokes and he was into the hospital network.  He shut the connection down quickly, deciding to poke around later.  But he knew what his next mission was.