Through the Darkness, Chapter Twenty Five

CHAPTER 25

August, 2013

“You know, we don’t have to go in there and deal with any of them if we don’t want to,” Todd said, trying to be magnanimous.   But he knew it would work.  Blair turned to look at him and marched into the library.  All Todd could do was hold back the humungous smirk that was on his face as he followed her in.

Dorian turned at the sound of the opening doors.  When she saw Blair, she said, “Thank God your back.  Where have you been?  I’ve been worried sick!”

“Todd and Victor escaped their captors and in the process, Todd was shot at,” Blair explained, as calmly as possible.  “Victor got him to a hospital in Rochester and called us all.”

Dorian peeked around Blair and saw the man in question leaning on crutches.  “Lovely act you have going her, Todd, but the jig’s up.”

“Seriously, Dorian?  You think I’m faking all this?” Todd asked, not believe her himself.  He heard the echoes of his comments coming from around the room.  “You want to see the bullet hole in my leg?”  He was about ready to pull his pants down to show her.

“That won’t be necessary, Todd,” Blair replied for her aunt, “Because Dorian is leaving now.”  Then, as if remembering her manners, she turned to Viki.  “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Viki walked up to Dorian.  “You have insulted my family, Dorian.  I think it’s best you leave.”

Dorian looked around the room, settling on Blair.  She gave her niece an appraising look then straightened her back and left, walking between Starr and Jack on her way out.

“After everything she’s pulled over all these years, I can’t believe she’s sunk that low,” Viki said in an astonished tone.

If she was going to say anything else, it was drown out by the children yelling from the kitchen.  Sam led the charge, followed by Bree, Ryder and Liam.  They must have heard the voices and came out to see what had happened.  But when Sam caught sight of Todd, he screamed the whole way into the library.  “Uncle Todd, you’re back!”  Todd turned to see Sam coming at him and all he wanted to do with pick his nephew up and hug him.  Sam saw the crutches and asked. “What happened?”

Todd maneuvered himself to a chair and when he was seated, Sam hopped on his lap.  “I hurt my leg while I was one my business trip.  That’s where Mom and Starr and Jack went, to come and bring me home.”  Then he smiled.  “Guess who else is home?”

“Who?” Sam asked.

“Your dad is home too,” Todd told him.  When Sam’s eyes brightened, Todd continued.  “Yep, he’s probably home with Tea now.  You want to go see him?” 

“Is he hurt too?”  Todd shook his head and Sam’s answered surprised him.  “Then I can see Dad tomorrow.  You need chicken soup.  It’s what Mom makes when I don’t feel good.”

That brought laughter from the family.  “Well, then, why don’t we go and make Uncle Todd some,” Starr said, leading her little brother into the kitchen.

Todd watched, contentedly, as they left.  Then, as he was about to stand up, he was attack from the back.  “You have no idea how worried I’ve been about you!” Tina cried as she wrapped her arms around his back.

Todd had a fairly good idea how worried she’d really been, but a look from Blair kept him from voicing his opinions.  “It’s good to see you too,” he responded diplomatically.  Then, he turned to her and said in a genuine tone, “And thanks for the defense with Dorian.”

“Oh, she was on the warpath.  She was banging on the door even before Viki came home, insisting I get Blair for her.  She didn’t believe that I didn’t actually know anything,” Tina told them.

He didn’t want to think too much about Dorian so he asked her, “Has Cord heard about how Clint is doing?”  Part of it was digging but he tried to sound like he was actually concerned.

He could tell Tina was surprised by the question, but she answered, “As it happens, Clint’s sort of…disappeared.”

“What?” Viki asked.  “What do you mean disappeared?”

Tina looked to Viki, saying, “Cord…Cord went to see if they’d allow him to see Clint this morning and when he got to St. Ann’s, they said he’d been moved.  I tell you, Cord was ready to tear the place apart to find him.  They didn’t even have copies of the paperwork saying here he went.  Natalie’s been at the station all day working with them to find him, but it’s a mystery.”

As if she heard her name being mentioned, Natalie walked into Llanfair with a guy just then.  “Mom, you got home…oh, hello Uncle Todd,” she said, her face going into a scowl.

Behind her, the other man raised his voice.  “Todd Manning, as I live and breathe.  Didn’t think I’d get the chance to see you before I had to head home.”

Todd narrowed his eyes, trying to place the face.  He knew he recognized the guy but it took him a minute to place it.  “Nicky Jobek?  What the hell are you doing here in Llanview?”

“I was investigating a call from a hotel and then I learned the victim was the bruiser who put fear into the offense of every Chicago area football team.  Who now, it seems, is a big time newspaper publisher?  What would that ass Peter Manning say now,” Jobek said, clasping Todd’s hand.

“I haven’t worried about him in a long time.  Too many other things to worry about,” Todd said suppressing the shutter that usually happened to him when he heard that name. 

“Well, now that your back, I can question you about your kidnapping for my report,” Jobek said to him.

Todd didn’t want to go into that right now, not with another piece of the puzzle that had become his life missing.  “Look, Nick, I’ve had a rough few days.  Can I talk to you about that tomorrow?  I just think I need to rest.”

He could tell that Blair knew he was stalling but she implored the cop, “Yes, look, we just came from his doctor here and he would like him to take it easy.”

Nick look from one to the other.  “Okay, tomorrow.  I think I can talk my supervisor into extending my stay another day or so,” Jobek answered.  He shook Todd’s hand again.  “But tomorrow, we’ll talk, catch up some.  Like old times.”  With that, he left.

When Todd turned around, he saw the looks he was getting from his family.  “What’s the problem?” he asked, at a loss of understanding.

It was Viki who spoke up.  “It’s been a very long time since I saw you with any male friends.”  Then she just smiled.

“I really am tired.  Look, I’m going to go up and rest.  Let me know when my chicken soup is ready,” he said.

“I’ll come up and help you get settled,” Blair said.

“Yeah, I’ll come up too,” Jack added.

When they all got upstairs, Todd and Blair headed to the room that Todd had when he was living in Llanfair, while Jack went to the room he was sharing with Sam.  He went to his bag and pulled out the files he had found in Dorian’s office.  Jack knew he shouldn’t have them and the damage they could do, if he was reading them correctly.  But he also saw how Dorian had set off his parents and aunts and he knew that they should know.  He looked through the pages again, making sure he was reading them right.  Then he went to his parent’s room.

They answered his knock much faster than he had expected, especially after how long it had taken his mother to help his father get dressed at the hospital.  “Come in,” Todd called.

Jack walked into the bedroom, the file behind his back.  “Can I talk to the two of you?”

He could see his parents’ expression morph to ones of concern, though Todd did a better job of covering it.  “Yeah, Jack.  What’s the matter?”

Jack took a deep breath and said, “When Mom told Starr and I to pack because we were leaving La Boulaie, I went to help Sam with his bag.  I also asked him if there were any toys he wanted to bring with him.  He told me one was in Dorian’s office so I went to get it.  I looking through the office and I found the toy, but I also found a file that, I don’t know…You know how Aunt Viki was worried about The Banner and then, she invested in that fund that was a Ponzi scheme?”

Blair looked to Todd and Todd’s eyes shifted from Blair back to Jack.  “Yes, the Pellegrino fund.  She was told it was a can’t miss deal.  Her investment banker even backed it.”

“Okay, well, I found something and it could get some people in a lot of trouble, even moreso than they already are, especially with this family,” Jack told him.  He handed the file to Todd.

Jack regretted his choice the minute Todd looked up from his reading.  He really didn’t want his father going on trial for murder again and that was the look Todd had on his face at that moment.  But what shocked Jack more was his mother’s look when he went through the file.  He couldn’t remember ever seeing that pissed off of a look on his mother’s face ever before.