My Brother's Keeper #11

Bo was standing looking down at the remains.  Manning was right.  Someone with deep pockets and connections had engineered the thing.  He kicked himself because he had had blinders on when Manning had reappeared in their lives.  When John brought in Manning the night of the premiere, all the memories of his actions against Nora resurfaced.  Everything, that had gone on with the other Todd, paled when confronted with the real devil from the past.  He had let his bias toward the man color his actions from that moment on.  He should have insisted on following up on Manning’s imprisonment.  Instead, he had taken a back seat, and when John brought in Irene Manning and the whole sordid story came out, he was still unable to find sympathy for Nora’s old nemesis.  You owe the guy an apology.   If not for him, you would still have him as your top suspect in a murder that obviously never happened.  “Manning, I just wanted to tell you....” He stopped and looked around.  Todd and Blair had disappeared. “Damn it, Manning, can’t you ever do what you’re told?  John, did you see them leave?”

John had been talking to the coroner and turned around suddenly,  “Who?  Shit, I’m sorry Bo, I thought they were right here.  They can’t really go anywhere, I’ve got his keys.”

“Go find them.  If I know Manning, he’ll be looking for some way to get back to Llanview and start looking for Tomas.  We have to stop him before he tries to kill the guy.  This case has gotten complicated enough with all the recent revelations and Llanview’s own Coroner just killed.  The last thing we need is for Manning to go on a rampage.”

John nodded and headed to search the building.  He reached into his pocket and was relieved that the keys to Todd’s car were still there.  The search soon revealed they were nowhere in the building.  Could they have found an alternate ride?  I know you, Manning, there’s no way you would hotwire your own car.  You have to be around here somewhere but just to be on the safe side.  John walked out of the building.  Damn it!

Bo looked around when he heard the footsteps.  Only one set.  His suspicions were confirmed when John walked back in alone.  “They’re gone, aren’t they?”

“Manning’s car is missing.”

“It’s water under the bridge now.  We’re out of here, anyway.  They’ll keep the remains and casket here until we need them in Llanview. Let’s go. Call Fish and tell him to put an APB out on Manning’s vehicle.  I want to know where it ends up.”

****

They were about twenty minutes into the hour drive back to Llanview when Todd broke the silence in the car.   “Tell me how you met Calmar?”

Blair swallowed, this was the first time Todd had asked anything about the time he had been gone.  “Okay, first you need to know about my last husband.  Eli Clark was Ross Rayburn’s brother and a psychotic killer.  Of course, I didn’t know about the second part until my honeymoon night in Tahiti.  Kelly got a call through to me and I ended up fighting Eli for my life.  I thought I killed him.  After Tea’s death, Ross showed up and we realized Eli had changed Tea’s will.  She had inadvertently given custody to Ross. Dani was supposed to leave with Ross but ran away and a lot happened.  Eli killed Ross and then kidnapped Starr, Hope and Dani, that was how we found out he hadn’t died in Tahiti.

Todd looked over at Blair in alarm.  “He kidnapped the girls.”

“He wanted your money and was going to bargain Dani for it.  He also wanted me.  He ended up in a warehouse with Dani and in a standoff with Bo and the Police.  That was when we found out that Tea wasn’t dead but also being held in the warehouse.”

“Wait a minute, go back.  Tea died?”

“Not really, Eli was poisoning her and she thought she had terminal cancer.  She didn’t want Victor and Dani to watch her die so she went to an island that her doctor found.  He was in the whole thing with Eli and told us she died.  He couldn’t go through with killing her and brought her back to the Cherryvale Clinic.  That was where Eli found her.”

Todd’s thoughts were all over the place.  He had thought he had heard everything when he found out about Victor and Marty, but it was obvious he had missed so much more.  “My God, you’re telling me Tea almost died at the hands of that maniac and you married him.  Were you crazy?” Todd's hands clenched around the wheel.  His mind was so lost in images of Tea dying and Blair fighting for her life that he didn’t even notice where his car was headed.  

Blair looked at Todd is exasperation. “No, I wasn’t crazy.” He didn’t seem to hear her and then the car began moving into the other lane. “Todd, look out!”

Todd came out of his reverie and jerked the car back into the proper lane as an oncoming car barely missed them.  He slowed the car and pulled to the side of the road and stopped.  He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. Get your act together, you just about killed yourself and Blair.

Blair laid a hand on Todd’s arm. “Todd, are you alright?” Damn it Blair. He wasn’t ready to hear all that.  You talk too much.   “I’m sorry.  I should have had you stop.  It’s a lot to take in.  Listen, I’m okay and so are Tea and the girls. Eli’s dead and can’t hurt any of us anymore.”

He took another big breath and let it out slowly.   “You’re right.  He’s dead and I hope, rotting in hell.” He turned in his seat to face her better.  He took her hand into his and just rubbed it.  It soothed him to be able to touch her.  He looked into her eyes,  gulped and ran his tongue on the inside of his mouth. Spit it out Todd, you owe her.  “ I’m sorry, too.  I’ve been so wrapped up in my issues, I didn’t consider what all of you have been through these past eight years.  It’s becoming painfully clear, I’m not the only one who suffered.”

Blair was shocked.  Todd was just one surprise after the other these days.  It was just another sign of the changes in him.  “I...You didn’t know.  How could you?  It’s in the past.”  She covered his hand with her free one.  “I for one don’t want to dwell on what’s past.  You asked how I met Calmar.  Eli left me this lockbox and I opened it right after Christmas.  Inside the box was a portrait of me.  The problem I had was there was no signature.  There was a date on it and it had been painted the year you disappeared.  I took it to Victor and he said he knew nothing about it but Christian Vega found a watermark on it and it gave us someplace to look.  Paris.”

“That’s where you met Calmar?”

“Yes, Christian had been given his name by a colleague and we went there to find out if he knew who might be the artist.  When we arrived he recognized my portrait.  It was he who sent me to Tomas.”

“So who is this Calmar?”

           “Well at first I just thought he was an art dealer but it turns out he’s Tomas’ CIA contact.  You have to understand.   Tomas said he was out of the game.  He seemed so sincere.  I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to admit I was wrong.”

Todd smiled slightly and let go of her hand and started driving again. “It’s not like I was very forthcoming about everything.  I don’t blame you for your reluctance where I’m concerned.  Let’s get back to Calmar.  He’s French and he’s involved with the CIA.  Blair, what if his group is as rogue as Irene’s?  Maybe it’s a rival agency looking for Irene’s information to use the same way Irene used it?”

“So you think they figured since you didn’t have the information, they would grab Victor.  But why did they set it up to look like he was dead?”

“They’ve been hiding under the guise of being a legitimate CIA branch.  They wanted what was on the chip but they didn’t want to have to turn it over to the government.  They must have decided taking Victor and making it appear he was dead would keep the government from looking any further for the chip.  I’m being framed to draw all eyes away from what’s really going on.”

“Todd, that explains Victor, but how do you explain the visions you've had of your mother.”

“I don’t know, nor do I know why I keep seeing myself shooting him.  He said that never happened.  What’s important right now is finding Victor.  Irene will wait.”