Through the Darkness, Chapter Thirty Five

CHAPTER 35

August, 2013

In the order of things Todd liked, talking to Natalie was not in the top ten.  It was probably not even in the top one hundred.  Since the redheadeded interloper got to Llanview, she had rubbed him the wrong way.  It went beyond the fact that she had taken Jessica’s place in the family (and led to years of confusion afterwards, as well).  Todd knew what it was like to learn about your roots later in life.  He had gone through pretty much everything Natalie went through.  Unlike her, however, Todd hadn’t barged into Llanfair like Natalie had.  It took him years to feel at ease with the rest of the Lords and, to be honest, he still didn’t feel like part of the family.

Still, he needed that phone number and, by the conversation he had had with Natalie a few days ago, suspected she had it.  It made him uncomfortable, but not nearly as much as the idea of his daughter with that slick haired sugar daddy.  No, he wasn’t going to think about that right now.  Now, he had to deal with his disliked niece and her possible new boyfriend. 

He stepped into Natalie’s office, not even trying to be charming as he had with Clint earlier.  “I need to get a phone number from you,” he demanded bluntly. 

Natalie was a bit startled to see Todd even in her office.  It took her a minute to process what he was saying.  “I’m sorry, you need what?”

“A phone number.  Jeez, did you not hear me?” Todd asked, irritated that he had to repeat himself.

Natalie offered him nasty smirk.  “Why do you need something from me?  And, do you actually think I’ll give it to you?”

Todd rolled his eyes.  “I think you will, because it can help us catch who or whatever is after our family.”  He then decided to go for a gentler approach.  “Yes, I actually do consider you family.  And your name was on that list, as I’m sure you know.  Look, give me the number and you can even stay and listen to the conversation.  I may…I may actually need your help eventually.”

“Whose number do you need?” she asked, resigned. 

“Nick Jobek’s.”

Natalie paused her scrolling through the contact list on her phone.  “Why do you think I’d have his number?”

“Well, he is your latest boyfriend, right?  I figured you’d have exchanged it by now,” Todd commented.  Natalie went back to her task, not referring to Todd’s intimations.  “Hey, at least I approve of this last one.  Cutter was really not the type of guy I’d want around my nieces, even the ones I don’t like.  And John…the less said about him, the better.”

Wordless, Natalie showed Todd the number.  He dialed it and turned the speaker on.  After a few rings, the other end picked up.  “Nick Jobek speaking,” he announced.

“Nicky, Todd Manning.”

“Hey there, bruiser.  What can I do for you?”

“When are you heading back to Llanview?”

“As it just so happens, I’m at the gate at Midway, waiting to board.”

“And when do you start with the Keystone Kops?”

“Buchanan told me of your loathing of the police,” Nick said.  “I’m not supposed to start for another couple of weeks.  I’m just heading out early because I have time off and I wanted to catch up with you.”

It had been so long since Todd had anyone he could come close to calling a friend, especially another man, that it sounded strange to his ears to hear anyone wanting to ‘catch up’ with him.  “When you get here, come to Llanfair as soon as you can.  I have a deal I want to make with you and several people who are there already.”

“What kind of deal?” Nick asked.  “Has there been a break in the case?”

“Yeah, there may be, but, in his infinite wisdom, your soon to be boss doesn’t believe me and won’t pursue it.  So, I need help from someone who will at least think for a split second about giving me the benefit of the doubt.  There are so few people who are willing to do that here,” Todd said as he eyed Natalie.  “And, hey, if you help, you’ll be working with that hot readhead you were asking me about.”

“I thought you didn’t like the idea of me and your niece?”

“Well, truth be told, you’re a step up from her last boyfriend.  He was a cop too, and he arrested me,” Todd explained.  “And the funny thing is, I never even broke the law!”  Todd glanced at Natalie and caught her narrowed eyed gaze.

From the other side of the phone, a flight was being called.  “Look, that’s me.  I’ll be there soon and you can explain this all to me, because I am so confused right now,” Nick said.

Todd shook his head.  “Okay, call me when you land, I’ll have a car waiting for you.  Talk to you soon.”  He ended the call abruptly, putting his phone in his jacket pocket.  “When he gets here, meet me in the carriage house at Llanfair.  And find your sister and her boyfriend.  I think he could be useful.”

“Useful in what?” Natalie asked, not sure she even wanted the answer. 

“In my investigation.”  With that, Todd left Natalie looking more confused than usual.

He skillfully avoided running into Bo Buchanan at the station, but, as his hand was about to reach the handle on the door, he heard one of the most unpleasant voices.  “Todd Manning, what brings you down here?  Shoot your brother again?” Nora Buchanan asked.

Todd took a deep breath as he turned to the Llantano County District Attorney.  “Hi, Nora.  Um, no, I haven’t even shot my brother once, if you want to bring it up.”

“What are you doing here, Todd?” she asked again, as she began to lose her patience.

“I was here visiting my niece, if you must know.”

Nora crossed her arms at that.  “You have to be up to something.  You don’t even like Natalie!”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t visit her in the place where she works,” Todd retorted.  “Look, I have a busy schedule to keep. Remember, big newspaper publisher.  I’m sure there’s some scandal in the DA’s office that’s just waiting to be uncovered.  Tootles!”  With that, he made his escape. 

Blair was waiting for him in the car.  “What took you so long?  You said it would be an in and out.”

“Natalie was being a bit uncooperative and Nora stopped me and accused me of some crime.  Same old, same old.”  He checked his phone when he heard a message beep.  “Jack’s back at Llanfair, said he has some information that may be useful.  We should head there.”  He very deliberately avoided using the word home.  He had never, nor never would, consider the Lord estate as his home.  And he was getting anxious for the renovation on the penthouse to be complete.  He wanted to be back in the only place he’d ever come close to considering home as soon as possible. 

“You know, Jack’s been getting very good with the computer.  I’m sure you heard he hacked the hospital’s security,” Blair said with a touch of pride. 

“Yeah, he had mentioned it.  And he asked me about the blackout,” Todd said, a smile on his face.  “That was a fun night.”

“Yeah, it was,” Blair said.  They drove in silence the rest of the way back.  When they got there, Jack was in the library going through a trunk with Jessica.  “Hey, your dad said you had something for us?” she asked her son.

Jack looked up.  “Yeah, Jessica helped me with it,” he said.

“Well, it was Jack’s idea,” Jessica replied with a reassuring smile.

Jack blushed a little bit.  “It was just something I wanted to follow up on.”  He stepped back from the trunk.  “After Mom gave me the note you sent her, the one with the papers giving her control of the paper, I did a little investigating of my own…about Victor Lord.”

Todd looked like he didn’t comprehend.  “What did you want to know about him?  I think we know all we need to about him.”

“Well, did you know that he was a World War II vet?” Jack asked.  “And that he was in the OSS?”

“I’ve never really cared about him, so, no, I didn’t.  What’s the big deal about that?” he asked.

“The OSS was a forerunner of the CIA.  As in, whatever group Irene was working for.  They supposedly had ties to the CIA.  Maybe that was even how she got connected,” Jack answered.

“And we went through Grandfather’s trunk of wartime memorabilia.  There were some files in it that had an interesting name come up,” Jessica said as she handed it to Todd.

“Elizabeth Dalton,” Todd said. 

Jack nodded.  “I ran the name through a web search.  She was a young private who, it looks like, served as Victor secretary during his time in the service.”

“Another conquest?” Todd asked sarcastically.

“Not quite.  Elizabeth Dalton returned to the States after the war and married a Charles Peterson,” Jessica began to explain.  “He died about seven years later and she remarried, this time to a Walter Perkins.”            

“Peterson and Perkins?” Blair asked.  “You’re not saying…”

Jack took over.  “We went further.  With Peterson, she had a son, Carl.  With Perkins she had a daughter…”

“Allison Perkins,” Todd concluded.  “Now that’s an interesting turn.”

“What’s an interesting turn?” Viki asked as she came into the room.

“Nothing, sis,” Todd answered too quickly.  “We were just talking about…the chances for Jack’s soccer team this year.  Turns out the captain broke his leg, will be out for the season.”

“Okay, what’s really going on…and why do you have Father’s Army trunk out?”

“Um, well,” Jessica began.

“I…I wanted to look into something I learned about him,” Jack said.  “Look, I don’t like bringing him up with you or anyone else, but I mention to Jessica that I saw in his obituary that he was in the Army and Jessica mention that this was up there.”  He turned and waved back to it.  “She helped me get it down and go through it.”

Jack could tell his aunt wasn’t buying it, but was shocked when she said, “You should know about your grandfather, all there is about him.”  She went to the trunk and started shifting through the items in it.  “I really don’t even know that much about his time in the war.  He never talked about it to me.”  Then she stood up.  I need to get a room ready.  Clint may be released tomorrow and I think it best for him to stay here with us.”

“I agree, Sis,” Todd said as Blair added, “If you need any help, let us know.”

Viki nodded and left the room.

Todd turned to Jack.  “Let’s get this into the carriage house.  I really don’t want anything around here that reminds her of the old man.” He turned to Jessica.  “Where’s your latest boyfriend?”

“Brody?  He had a meeting with Uncle Bo at the station, but he should be back soon,” she answered.

“When he gets here, have him meet us in the carriage house,” Todd told her.  “Nick should be landing in Philly soon, and I need to have a car meet him at the airport and bring him back here.  When he’s here, Natalie should be here as well.  I want all of us, including Starr, to gather there.  I think it may also be a good idea to have Victor and Tea here as well.  We need a firmer plan here, and we will put make one…together.”