Don't Shoot the "Messenger", Ch. 18

            Todd looked around as he entered.  Bo was deep in a conversation with Nora. It was very likely something to do with Mathew and their new grandson.  He was about to enter John’s office when Natalie, almost ran him over going in ahead of him.  He stood in the doorway watching, as she flung her arms around John.  Then she started talking excitedly about Liam.

             “John, you’re not going to believe it, but Liam took his first step this morning.  I recorded it for you. Look!”

             Todd smiled as he recalled Starr’s first steps.  Then he remembered how he had missed Jack’s.  God, you’re getting maudlin.  Snap out of it.  A baby takes your hand and suddenly you’ve gotten sentimental.  Reel it in, you’re here for a reason.  It’s the safety of all your kids that concerns you right now.  He cleared his throat.  “Excuse me, I looking for a police officer to help me with a problem.”

             At his words, Natalie turned around quickly, looking a little embarrassed until she realized who had made the comment.  She countered quickly. “Oh, look, Uncle Todd, there’s one right behind you that doesn’t look busy.  This one’s taken,” she smiled at him.

            She was still a firecracker after all these years, and Todd admired her for standing her ground with him.  She had never been afraid or cowed by him and he liked that.  He looked behind him and saw Fish reading a book and said. “Nope, it’s going to have to be your guy, Nat.  You’ll just have to share.”  He teased her, looking John up and down like he was a prize.

            Nat laughed and John raised an eyebrow, he had gotten used to Manning’s weird sense of humor.  “What do you want, Manning?” asked John.

           “First off, can I see the video of my grand-nephew Natalie? It’s been quite a few months since my wedding, and I know my life has been chaotic, but you give me hope that one day, things might end up normal for me.”

           “Uncle Todd, the day that happens, Hell will freeze over, but here, have a look,” she handed him her phone and he looked at the adorable one-year-old taking his first steps.  Liam was looking more and more like his dad every day. “He’s a beautiful child, Natalie.” Seeing the big smile on the child’s face, he couldn’t help making a slight dig at John. “It’s obvious he takes after you.  He’s cheerful.  Of course John, we know your face would crack if you smiled, so you’re excused.”

            “Todd!“ Natalie had to stifle her giggle that threatened to escape because Todd had hit the nail on the head. She loved John dearly, but he wasn’t one who smiled very much.

             John reacted predictably. “She doesn’t love me for my smile,” he stated stoically.  Getting a blush from Natalie he looked Todd straight in the eyes. “Now could we get back to what brought you here?”

            “Really John, you need to learn to lighten up. I did, it changes your whole outlook on life.” Grinning, he handed the phone back to his niece. “But back to business. Someone has been watching the house recently and has also talked to Sam. I’m concerned since we still know several escapees are on the loose.   I have a couple of pictures of her. I was hoping you might be able to enhance the photos and maybe find a way to identify who she is.”

           Todd’s whole mood changed when he began to explain the reason for his visit. Both Natalie and John realized his visit was serious after all.

           “You know it’s a she? Why does it bother you?” asked Natalie.

           “Sam was all alone when he met her and the first we knew about her was this morning. He calls her Sleeping Beauty and Blair thought he might have just met a young girl walking in the woods. But even I can see, from the photo that picks her up better, that’s no kid.”

           John and Natalie looked at each other, it was clear Todd was right. “Why do you think this is someone to be worried about? Did she say or do anything to Sam to make you worried?”

           “No, but these pictures were taken off of videos that covered two different days.  This one,” Todd pointed to the bigger image, “ was just this morning. I don’t like people watching the house. Call me paranoid, but the last time someone did it, they tried to kill me a short time later.” Todd suddenly recalled the panic he had felt the day Cristian had come calling, determined to kill him on Hesser’s order. Carlo had ordered the hit even though he knew Todd was blind at that time.  Todd could still remember the momentary feeling of helplessness. Now that same feeling of helplessness was making him see enemies everywhere. The nightmares about Mitch had started up and he had a been reminded over and over, how helpless Mitch had made him feel. He had been trapped in that tomb with his dead father, unable to do anything but accept that he was breathing his last few minutes of air. He couldn’t stop Mitch then, and now, someone new was keeping tabs on his house.  Who were they?  For some insane reason, he felt they were connected to Mitch and the thought terrified him. Todd’s breathing had escalated and the room started spinning.  He reached for the back of a chair not far from him to steady himself as darkness engulfed him.

            Stunned John and Natalie watched Todd crumble to the ground in front of them.  After a momentary pause, John and Natalie quickly sprang into action and began checking Todd. to see what caused him to collapse.  Nat checked his blood pressure and found it elevated and figured it was probably part of the cause. “Uncle Todd, can you hear me?” She was concerned knowing his history since his return from Paris.  She dashed to the door, “Fish, bring me the portable defibrillator and the first aid kit.” She was pretty sure he had just fainted, but she wanted the machinery on hand if she was wrong. Bo and Nora had looked over when they heard the word “defibrillator” and had come to see who was down.

          “What’s going on? What happened John?”

          “He just fainted I think.  We were discussing someone who’s been lurking around Dragonheart. I do know he’s been uptight recently about Mitch Laurence.  Maybe that has something to do with this.” John replied.

          “Is it his heart, Natalie?” asked Bo.

           “His heart's racing but the pulse is strong. I think John’s right, he fainted. Why would he be uptight about Laurence? Mitch is dead.” asked Natalie looking up at John.

            John knew he had to tell Natalie about Mitch. It had been long enough. “Mitch’s body disappeared out of the morgue the night of the blackout.”

             Since the blackout, Natalie had been so engrossed in caring for Liam and watching out over her Dad and Mom, she hadn’t heard about Mitch. “What did you just say? What do you mean Mitch’s body isn’t in the morgue?” She looked down at Todd, who appeared to be coming to. She remembered back to the time Mitch had kidnapped Blair and demanded Todd bring Natalie to him. There had been threats against each other following that affair, and Mitch was the one suspected of making Todd disappear. Was there truth in that rumor after all? “Why would someone steal Mitch’s dead body?” she let the question ride as Todd began trying to get up.

            “What the hell?“ Todd said, still groggy. It took him a minute to get his bearings.

            “Easy Todd, take it slow. You fainted.“ Natalie said.

            Todd found a chair close at hand and used it to leverage himself up. “You’re kidding right?” He looked around to see everyone staring at him. John extended his hand and helped Todd to his feet. Still a little unsteady, Todd sat down abruptly into the chair he had used moments before. He sat there a moment trying to figure out what had happened. Deep in his heart, he knew the answer; Mitch had happened. He needed to find Mitch, because knowing he was out there somewhere unstopped scared Todd, and he hated that feeling. “Sorry, forgot to eat this morning.” He could tell from their faces no one really believed him, but they let him keep that excuse. “You don’t need to hover I’m fine.” Bo looked over at John and nodded then took Nora by the elbow and led her out of the room.

           Todd could hear Nora’s words as they left. “Bo, don’t you think we should call someone?”

           “Nora, if he wanted any help, he would have asked. You know the kind of man he is, let him be.”

           Todd looked up at John .”I suppose you two want to call for help.”

           John and Natalie looked at each other and shook their heads. “Hey, if you say you’re fine then we’ll leave it at that,” said Natalie then she turned to John. “Why didn’t you tell me Mitch’s body was missing from the morgue?”

           Todd spoke up. ”He did it because I asked him to keep it quiet. I didn’t want you, Jess, and especially Vicki to worry about Mitch’s body being out there somewhere.”

           She looked from him and back to John. “What else aren’t you saying?”

           “John won’t say it because it’s out there but I will. There’s a chance Mitch might be alive.”

           “But that’s insane, I hit him with five shots. How could he survive that?”

           “Ivan Kipling” Todd dropped the name quietly.

            The name hung in the air as Natalie realized the ramifications of it. “That’s the scientist who worked on both you and Jake. Isn’t he in prison? “

             “No, Natalie, he’s one of the current escapees still at large. He's gone to ground and no one has seen him since the night of the blackout” John replied.

              “So someone saw him that night. Where? “

              “The morgue,” Todd said.

              “My God, you think he has Mitch’s body?”

              “That’s just it. The only reason we were calling it a body is because the officer reported that the coroner said he was dead. Then the coroner turned out to be Dr. Kipling. He disappeared that night with an ambulance and we think its a safe bet he’s the one that took Mitch.” Todd let the words sink in knowing Natalie would figure out the rest.

            “You think Mitch might have still been alive when he was brought in.” Natalie suddenly felt sick. Would the man never die? “Mom and Jessica need to be told.  You can’t keep this a secret any longer.”

            John spoke up.“Natalie, we have nothing to go on.  We know Kipling probably took Mitch’s body, but we don’t know if he survived yet and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of Kipling since then.  Look at the stress Todd is under.  Do you think Jessica and Vicki can handle the stress right now? Todd’s right.  For now, we wait until we find Kipling, and then we’ll know more about Mitch.” John watched Natalie’s face and knew from the look she gave back to him that she agreed with his decision.

          “You’re right, after Mom’s injury she doesn’t need this, but Todd, this isn’t good for you either. Fainting means something’s going on in your body. You should stop and see Larry and have him give you a check-up.“

          “I’ve had enough of doctors for a while. Don’t worry about me, Natalie.  Like I said, I just forgot to eat this morning, and I haven’t been sleeping too great.  My metabolism is off that’s all.  I’ll be fine as soon as I have some lunch.  Don’t worry about Mitch.  If he’s out there, I’ll find him.  He’s not going to get close to any of you again.” Todd stood up. “I’ve got to get to The Sun.  You’ll call me when you get those enhanced pictures back or if you find out who she is, right, John?”

           “As soon as I have something, I’ll let you know. I do think you ought to take Natalie’s advice and talk to Larry. You owe it to Blair and the kids to stick around this time. Don’t take the chance.”

           Todd was surprised, John rarely offered unsolicited advice but he could tell that John was concerned for him as well as his family. “Yeah sure. you probably have a point, I’ll consider it.” he turned and left.  As he looked at his watch, he realized just how close to lunch it was.  Everyone at The Sun must be wondering where he was, especially Blair. That’s funny, how come you’re not breathing down my neck, Blair? You hate when I tell you I’m going somewhere and then I’m not there. Todd pulled out his phone to check and see if Blair had left him any messages.  No calls.  Maybe it was all the talk about Mitch or the strange woman watching the house but suddenly a cold chill ran down his spine.  His legs gave a little bit and he leaned against the wall for support.  Todd stop it! You’re imagination’s running wild today.  Blair’s fine.  She’s probably busy.  Just call her.

           He pulled his phone out and called. He frowned as the call went straight through to voice mail. He had no other choice, but to call the paper. As soon as his assistant answered he growled.

“This is me, put my wife on the phone.”

“But sir, Mrs. Manning isn’t here.” replied his assistant.

“What do you mean she’s not there?.... When did she leave?”

“I don’t believe she’s been in yet this morning. I haven’t seen her and usually, she stops here to check on you.”

“ She hasn’t been in all morning... You’re sure?”

“Well Mr. Manning I’m not positive, it’s possible she’s somewhere else in the building. Would you like me to check with the other areas?

“No, that’s all right, I must have gotten our plans mixed up.” Todd closed his phone and everything around him began to spin again. He put his head against the cold marble on the outside of the building and took deep slow breaths to fight off the darkness that was threatening him. The darkness receded and Todd made another call. He had almost lost consciousness again. He didn’t know where Blair was and it was eating away at him, but he certainly couldn’t go looking for her when he felt like he was going to collapse.

John had just sent the pictures to the lab and Natalie back to work when his phone rang.

“John, I think I need a ride to the hospital, I’m just outside the building.” Todd hung up and wrapped his arms around himself. His thoughts were all over the place as he worried about Blair. Where the hell was she? Why had he almost fainted again? The hospital could only answer one of those questions but hopefully he could find out what was going on with him then he’d find Blair.