Don't Shoot the "Messenger", Ch. 16

Todd strolled into Shaun’s office and was surprised to see Destiny sitting at a desk answering phones. She was Dani’s friend and had just recently had her baby with Matthew Buchanan. He still hadn’t been able to really connect with Dani. He had kept his distance because Tea was having such a hard time since Jake’s death, but it was beginning to gall him that Tea had remained so stubborn about him getting to spend time with Dani. He heard a baby coo and knew Destiny’s baby was behind the desk. Destiny still had no idea he was there and he didn’t want to scare her. He had a way of coming up on people so quietly that it unnerved them, he wasn’t going to scare Destiny that way. Todd turned around and went back to the door. This time he opened it and closed it loudly behind him and stomped a little bit so she heard his arrival.

Destiny jumped as she heard movement behind her and then gasped as she saw who was standing above her.

“Good Morning, is your brother in?”

Destiny opened and then closed her mouth. She wasn’t sure what to say to Dani’s father. “He’s here,” she said in a squeak. Then she reached over and picked up her son, and clung to him like she was afraid Todd might do something.

Todd tried to keep his facial expression neutral, even though it hurt to see her respond that way. He wasn’t sure if she did that with all of Shaun’s employers or if he was special, but he had a feeling she only did it to him. “I need to talk to him, and I don’t want to bother you. I’ll see myself in.” Todd entered the inner office and found Shaun at his desk.

“Todd, I’m sorry, was I supposed to be working early today?”

“No Shaun, I still just need you after school, but right now I need to know if you’ve looked at the most recent vids of the activity around Dragonheart. In particular, the last couple of days.”

“I haven't had a chance to go over them yet.  The last few days huh, what are we looking for?” Shaun headed over to the adjoining room and Todd followed, finding himself surrounded by monitors, showing various aspects of Dragonheart.

“Sam says he met a person, who he calls Sleeping Beauty, on the outskirts of the forest the other day. I’m sure whoever she is, she was watching the house today. I want to see if the cameras picked her up. By the way, I thought you were watching the kids. Why was Sam alone the other day?”

Shaun could tell by his tone that Todd was pissed off, and he couldn’t really blame him. He remembered a day in the previous week when he had let Sam stay outside for a little longer while he had taken Hope into the bathroom. “There’s no excuse Todd. I’m sorry and it won’t happen again, but I do know which day it was, so let’s look at the vids for that day.”

Todd had been ready to rip Shaun a new one. It had suddenly occurred to him that Sam had been alone when he met Sleeping Beauty. They could have lost him so easily that day. Then Shaun admitted he was in the wrong.

 "No excuses," he said.

Todd admired the man for admitting his mistake. His anger left and he said, “You’re right, there is no excuse and if Sam had been taken I’m not sure what I would have done. We’re both lucky it didn’t happen. Shaun, I like you and I’ll overlook it this time, but know this, Blair, and those kids are the most important people in my life. I love them all.  If anything happens to them on your watch, look out.”

Shaun merely nodded. “Understood.  Here’s the day that I left him alone for those few minutes.  Let’s see if we can find out who he was talking to.”

Todd turned his gaze to the screen and began watching the video. He saw the children running around chasing the bubbles. Then he turned his attention to the forest area shown in the background on the screen. He spotted the figure standing off in the distance. It appeared to be a small woman or girl. “There,” he watched and noticed the figure sit down. “Is there any way to get a closer shot of her?”

“Sure, we can zoom in but it’s not going to give us much. It will be out of focus since the camera wasn’t looking for her in particular. It’s hard to tell if she’s a child?”

“Let's see if we can figure it out when Sam talks to her. At least, that would at least tell us if she’s bigger than him.” They watched the video longer and saw the little guy make his way to the place where she was. When she stood up, it was obvious she was older and taller than Sam but that was all they were able to determine. Whoever she was, she didn’t make a move to touch him. Todd found it hard to watch, even though he knew the boy walked away from her just fine. All sorts of bad scenarios kept popping into his head.

Shaun felt queasy when he realized how easily the person could have taken Sam. He hadn’t done his job right and Todd could have fired him on the spot.

“It’s my fault too Shaun. Starr and Blair have been letting you babysit instead of bodyguard. From now on I’ll make sure someone else is with those two small ones at all times. I know they love to play with you, but you can’t play with them and guard them at the same time.” Todd had seen Shaun’s face and knew he was thinking the same things Todd had been envisioning. “This looks like the best place to zoom in on her. Get as close as the camera can get, and print off the picture, I’ll run it to John. Maybe Natalie and the forensic team can get more details and figure out who she is.”

Shaun took the camera in as close as they could get and printed the picture. He handed it to Todd. “It’s not very helpful, she’s too far away.”

“It’s something. Let’s look at today’s video that scans the back area of the house. I’m interested in the camera located close to the breakfast nook side of the back terrace.” Shaun found the video filmed a few hours earlier and they watched. Both of them spotted her at the same time. This view was closer, but she still managed to hide in the shadows enough to obscure a good view of her face. The closeup view did reveal one thing. The person hiding was definitely not a girl but a mature woman with the figure to prove it. The mood in the office was somber as Shaun printed out a second picture for Todd. They both knew that a child coming and looking at the house was harmless, but an adult continuing to do it was a problem. “Okay Shaun, I don’t want to scare my children, but from now on the property gets a good look over before the kids go out to play. Agreed?”

“Absolutely, I’ll do a perimeter search every afternoon. Do you think she’s been there every day?”

“I don’t know, but as of today, it stops. Don’t tell Blair or Starr, it’ll just upset them, just make it part of the routine before playtime.” Todd pulled out the small wreath and showed it to Shaun. “I found this where she stood this morning, let me know if you find any more.” After letting Shaun get a good look at the wreath, he put it back in his pocket and taking his pictures, he got ready to leave. Opening the door he saw Destiny chattering on her cell phone and turned to Shaun. “How’s your sister doing? It’s got to be tough trying to do school and cope with a new baby?”

“Little Bit is holding up. She’s strong like Starr.”

“That’s right, you were around when Starr had Hope. My little girl, she was strong, huh?”

“The strongest. I know now where she got that strength. You can be proud Todd, Starr takes after you in a lot of ways.  Good ways, from what I’ve seen.  Hey, come meet my nephew.” Shaun walked over and picked up the baby and turned him so Todd could get a good look at the little guy. “Meet Drew Buchanan-Evans”

Todd looked down at the boy and offer his finger to the child as Shaun introduced him. “Good morning, Mr. Drew.” The child grabbed his finger and smiled. Todd smiled back. “He’s a beautiful boy. Well, I need to get these pictures to John.  Blair‘s going to have my head.  She’s probably worried about me, as we speak.  I’ll see you later.” He released his fingers from the baby’s grip, smiled at both Shaun and a very shocked Destiny, and left.

“How could you do that, Shaun?”

“How could I do what?” Shaun asked as he put his nephew back in his carrier.

“You know what. Get all friendly with Mr. Manning like that. You know what he is and yet you show my son to him. Are you nuts!” Destiny didn’t even realize the phone line was still open as she talked to her brother. “That’s Dani’s real father. He raped Marty Saybrook in college, and according to stories I’ve heard from Matthew, he did all sorts of other things.”

Shaun looked at his sister in surprise. “Destiny, I know everything there is to know about that man and probably a number of things you don’t know. That man was everything you said, but those things happened long ago in his past. He’s done a lot in his recent present to make up for his wrongs. Before condemning him, maybe you should talk to the people he’s been working with since he came back. Drew’s grandfather and grandmother are just a couple of people who could tell you about him. I’m ashamed of you. I thought given my background and your father’s, you would at least reserve judging someone until you knew all the facts.”

“But Dani...” Destiny suddenly realized Dani was on the other end of the phone and had heard the conversation.

“But Dani, nothing. Tea has refused to let Dani get to know her father. Would you refuse to let Drew know Mathew for any reason?” Shaun glared at her.

“Of course not, but Dani...” Destiny held the phone out in front of her and Shaun guessed what Destiny was trying to tell him. He mouthed “Dani” and his sister nodded. Shaun quickly turned the conversation around. “Look, you’re a good friend to Dani. You remain that for her, but don’t judge Todd okay?”

Destiny nodded, completely cowled by her brother’s forceful defense of Dani’s father. As Shaun turned and went back into his office, she brought the phone to her ear. “Oh my God Dani, I’m so sorry!”

Dani was numb. When Destiny had called and said her father was in Shaun’s office, Destiny had said how she was a little alarmed to have him standing over her. They had started talking about how she still couldn’t bring herself to let him into her life even though Starr had still been trying to make her see him in a different light. It had been so easy to use his past as a means to keep him at arm's length and her mother had been so upset about losing Jake that she had reinforced Todd’s bad points. It was weird that Shaun stood up for him with Destiny. Not only that, but the man she had heard talking to Shaun and to baby Drew didn’t sound like a monster. Even her brother Jack had stopped making angry remarks about him and had started talking about him like a normal father. “It’s okay Destiny, you just forgot I was here...The things your brother said, I know Mom’s been upset about Jake and she keeps saying Todd is trouble. ... Am I wrong Destiny? Should I be giving him a chance?”

“I don’t know, but Shaun is usually a pretty good judge of character.  I've got to tell you.  I think Shaun really likes your dad.  Shaun is picky about his friends, so I think I’ve got to find out more about him.  After all, he’s a member of Matthew’s family.  I guess I’ll have to talk to Nora and Bo.  But, you’re my friend and I’m still here for you no matter what you decide about him.”

“Thanks. Well, I need to get to class. When do you think you’ll be back in school?”

“I start back next week. Drew is finally starting to sleep during the night, so I’m hoping to start regular classes then. Drew and I will see you later, after school, bye.” Destiny hung up and picked up her son. She pictured Todd as he had looked at her son. His face hadn’t seemed menacing then, in fact, he had looked happy. Drew had even seemed okay with him. Destiny hated when people made assumptions about her and she’d been doing just that with Mr. Manning. “Well, that changes today, Drew. I think I want to know more about Dani’s dad. Your Uncle Shaun likes him, he can’t be all bad.”

Sitting outside the Llanview Police Department, Todd smiled to himself, as he recalled the little baby taking his hand. He had lost so many years with both his daughter and son. Years he would never get back. It was too bad. If he and Blair could get pregnant again, he’d make sure to be around for this one. Manning, you’re a fool, there’s no way Blair would want another child now. Just put it out of your head. He got out of the car and grabbing the pictures he entered the station.