Through the Darkness, Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER 16

August, 2013

Viki found a legal notepad and began writing.  “This all started with Father’s ‘resurrection’”, she remembered, going back all these years, “and the supposed bequest to Mitch Laurence.”

“And included in that was the fact that he was supposed to have been my biological father,” Jessica added.

Blair nodded.  “He went after Mitch, who got the better of him and that was how he ended up in the tomb,” she said.

“That was where Uncle Tomas found him, right?” Dani piped up.  Blair eyed the girl and Dani began to look uncomfortable. 

Blair hadn’t wanted to think about Tomas Delgado for a while.  She still wondered what she had been thinking, getting back together with him after he’d been freed from Todd’s capture.

It had been Starr who spoke up next.  “What did happen to Tomas, Mom?  You never said anything after the holidays.”

Blair looked to Tea and then noticed other pairs of eyes on her.  “Dorian went to the CIA, to try and get answers about where he went and when he’d be back.  They said they couldn’t release that information,” Blair said at last.  “It was then that I realized he hadn’t given up that life at all and I broke the engagement.”  It was a quick and clean answer, leaving out the muddied mess that Todd had brought to life when he brought Skye Chandler and Carly Jack to Llanview.

Before that line of inquiry could be continued, Natalie came back to the house.  “Det. Castillo and the tech guys looked over the video again and found something.”  She turned on the recording and paused it just before one of the attacker opened fire on the laptop.  “See there,” she said as she pointed to a glove.  Just under the glove, distinctive line could be seen.  “They matched up those lines to the tattoo Victor had on him when he got back and on the dead body that was found in the river.”

“So the kidnappers were part of the organization that had, and presumably still has Victor,” Tea surmised.  “That makes sense.”

Natalie continued.  “Bo called the station while I was there.  They’re on the way back from Chicago and they have not only the computer, but also another note.  It didn’t have much, but there was an address on it, 5316 West Gladys Street.”

“Where’s West Gladys Street?” Tina asked

“Uncle Bo said that’s all there was.  Also it ordered Todd to not fail them again,” Natalie went on.

Blair turned to Tea and saw the other woman’s unease.  They both knew what was meant by that message.  Blair offered a sympathetic look.  “Tea, if he didn’t show up at the address, than I don’t think he’d…”  Tea nodded.

“Okay, so we have four notes now, all with the mission to seemingly lead Uncle Todd along,” Jessica reasoned.  “One tells him that Victor’s alive and he failed.  Another is a list that seems to set up his family to be harmed for failing.  A third informs him they have Victor and the last one gives him an address to go to.  But we don’t know the town.”

As they worked through several more of their clues, Nora returned and announced she had boxes of cases she needed help carrying in.  Cord and Matthew went to help and soon, the family was pouring through files on the case of Todd’s disappearance, ten years ago.  While paging through a folder, Nora caught sight of the address written down on the pad.  “5316 West Gladys Street?”  She turned to Blair.  “Where did you get this?”

“It was on another note Todd received.  It was found in his motel room in Chicago by Jack and Bo.”  She caught Nora’s expression.  “Do you recognize it?”

Nora nodded.  “I think so.  If I remember it right, it was the address Todd lived at in Chicago.  I remember it from his case all those years ago.”    

“That would make sense as to why it’s just a street address and no city.  Whoever wrote it assumed Todd would remember it,” Natalie said.  “And that may have been the reason he was in Chicago in the first place.”

“Did Bo say he was going to the address?” Tea asked.

“No, he’s heading back with Jack, Brody and a Chicago detective.  The police there are going to handle the case out there and this detective is going to funnel information back and forth,” Jessica answered.

Several hours later, the doors to Llanfair opened again and Jack walked in, followed by Bo, Brody and another man.  “This is Detective Nick Jobek.  He’s with the Chicago PD and he’s going to keep us informed about their end as well as keep them informed.”  Bo introduced Jobek around, especially to Viki, Tina, Starr and Blair.

When he got to the Lord sisters, Jobek said, “The commissioner was telling me that Todd discovered that he was adopted in college.  I knew him in high school.”

Viki smiled at that.  “Well, when it’s a better time, you must tell me about him then.  He’s always been rather closed off about that time in his life.”

Nick nodded.  He then addressed the group.  “Before we left, I spoke with my commander and was informed that they are sending officers to the address on the note we found.”  Looking at his watch, he said, “Look, I’m going to go check into my room and get an update.  And I think I’ll get some rest and see you all in the morning.”  With that, he said goodnight.

Blair looked at her watch.  “It’s getting late and I really need to get home, if for no other reason than to change.”  She had just realized she hadn’t been back to La Boulaie all day and she was still in the same clothes she had on when she and Sam came for dinner the night before.

“Why don’t you and the children stay here?  There’s plenty of room and and you won’t be alone,” Viki offered.

Blair was very tempted to take the offer, but then, shook her head.  “Look, I want to keep things as normal for Sam as possible.  Staying one night was fun for him because he was here with Bree.  But he’s going to start to pick up that something is wrong,” she said, waving around the room, “especially if he sees this mess.  No, I want to go home and regroup.  We’ll come back in the morning, hopefully with fresh eyes.”

“What about when Dorian comes home?” Viki asked as she walked the Mannings out. 

“Well, I think she said she was going to be gone for a week.  I hope we find him by then,” Blair answered, though her voice wasn’t hopeful.  “I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it.

Viki embraced her and Jack went to collect Sam.  “Okay.  I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”  With that, Blair and her children left.

Home, however, didn’t feel welcoming.  Even as she got Sam tucked into bed and said goodnight to Starr and Jack, Blair didn’t feel tired despite the trauma she’d endured earlier in the day.  Her mind was swirling, imagining what Todd may be going through right now and ping-ponging to who could have him and for what purpose.  She wandered into Dorian’s office and sat at the desk, pulling out a pad and jotting down any memories she had from the last few months before he had vanished.  But she couldn’t get her mind off her fear for what was happening to Todd at that moment.

**********

Todd shook his head and stared at his brother.  After a minute, he said, “The cavalry is here.”

Victor’s face grew more menacing.  “Lot of good it’s doing us, you getting yourself captured and all.”

Todd went to stand but a wave of dizziness sent him back to the floor.  “Yeah, well, forgive me if I don’t know how to greet a man who nearly killed me the last time I saw him.”  Testing his legs again, he said, “If it weren’t for my son, you’d be facing two murder charges.”

Victor raised his chin as Todd stood up.  “That was self-defense.”

“So you admit you strangled the guy they found in the Llantano River?”  Todd didn’t think it would be that easy to get him to confess.  He held up his hands.  “Look, I believe you too, but Bo’s still got an ABP out for you and Tea’s right there with him.”

“Tea?” Victor asked.

Todd nodded.  “Yes, she thinks by you being taken into custody, it’ll protect you from whoever has you…us.”  He looked around the room at last.  It wasn’t as sterile as the hellhole he’d been imprisoned in for eight years, but it wasn’t much better.  At least, he thought, he had someone to talk to.  “Where were you when they got you?”

Victor turned back to the bed and didn’t answer.  “So did you have a plan or did they get the better of you?”

“My plan was to find you and bring you back to your wife.  And maybe just figure out who the hell is behind this.”  Todd looked at Victor.  “Have they talked to you?  Were there any familiar voices?  Anything you’ve figured out since you got here would be real helpful.”

“They don’t talk to me.  Even when they bring food.  They’ll usually rush me, sedate me and when I’m awake, there’ll be a tray in here,” Victor answered.

“Okay, then why put us in here together.  They do that, you’d think they’d know we could just rush them and escape.”

Victor shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.  “Maybe they figure we’ll just kill each other with the closed quarters.  God knows since you got back to town, you’ve had me in your sights.”

“I won’t do that.  You’re too important to Tea, Sam, Jack, Dani.  My kids were left without their father for too long.  I’d never do that to any other kids,” Todd replied.

“Well, you did shoot me,” Victor retorted.

Todd closed his eyes.  He remembered standing in his brother’s living room, firing the gun.  In a whisper, he repeated the lines that had haunted him for over two years.  “You take my life, Victor, I take yours.”

Victor sat up, seemingly hearing what his brother said.  “What was that?”

Todd looked over and saw what looked like confusion on his brother’s face.  “It’s what I said after I fired the gun.  ‘You take my life, Victor, I take yours.’”

“No you never said anything.  The gun went off and you just turned around and left.  I remember hearing the door close behind you,” Victor told him.

“You were probably losing consciousness and didn’t hear it.  But I remember saying it,” Todd responded.

“I distinctly remember hearing the door close.  And I remember Tea coming in and finding me, so I was still conscious for a while and you never said anything!” Victor yelled.

The two men stood up in unison, equally determined that their memories were the correct ones.

“Victor, I remember clearly--”

“Well it didn’t happen--”

Then, the twins stopped.  Victor spoke next.  “When did you remember that?  Right after it happened?”

Todd blinked.  “No, it was, it was a week or so later.  I was up in Viki’s cabin, Irene had shot me and I got away there.  Blair removed the bullet but it got infected and I had a raging fever.  And I was alone, Blair had to get to Starr and Tea negotiated my surrender.  Irene came to me, she was haunting me.”  He looked at his brother.  “I shot her.  Anyway, she pushed me to remember…that I had shot you.  And in that memory, I said that to you while you were bleeding out.”

“Well, you never said that,” Victor assured him.  Then, he walked back to the bunk and said, “And now, I don’t think I even remember you pulling the trigger.”