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The Tessarae Inn |
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Regrets in Jade Tones
PART II THE FOREMOST PASSION
CHAPTER 10 Blair checked her watch again as if looking at the time would make it go faster. Todd called to say he was taking care of everything but that was an hour ago. She leaned over and kissed Jack’s forehead gently. He was fast asleep in his mother’s arms and he was sleeping with the true peace of the innocent, but where was her baby girl? Where was her Starr? She took a deep breath and remembered that Todd was on top of it. He would never let anything happen to Starr. Everything was going to be okay. The Junior Princess was just in a royal snit after her talk with Mrs. Cole. Starr was just trying to give them something more to worry about than her shoving Susie, who probably did deserve it. Blair rubbed Jack’s back and nuzzled her nose in the sweet smell of his hair. Starr was okay. She and Todd would probably walk through the door laughing in any minute now. He probably took her for ice cream to have a one-on-one talk. Starr was definitely a “daddy’s girl” and Todd would know how to get through to her. They probably… Probably. Probably. Probably. She needed some definitive answers. Where was her child? The phone rang and Blair nearly jumped through the ceiling. Jack jerked as well but he did not wake up. She was going to have to calm down. Starr needed her mother whole and functioning on all cylinders. She quickly picked up the receiver and prayed that it was Todd or Starr. Please, God. Let my child be all right. It was Toni. “Have you heard anything?” “No.” Blair released her breath. “You?” “Nothing. Blair, I’m getting scared.” “I know but I keep telling myself that Todd is taking care of it. And RJ will be back soon.” “I have faith in your faith. Sorry about calling. I know we’re supposed to keep the line clear. I’m just going out of my mind here. Let me know the minute you hear anything.” “I will.” She hung up the phone. A sense of dread descended over her. She called out to Brianna who appeared within a second. She lifted Jack from her lap gently and tried not to wake him. Brianna reached out for him. “Put him in his bed, please. I don’t want him to pickup on my tension.” “Yes, Mrs. Manning.” “And, Brianna, stay with him. Don’t let him out of your sight.” “I won’t.” Blair crossed her arms and paced back and forth. She forced herself to stop the repetitive movements. She needed to keep her head clear and her mind sharp. She looked out at the backyard of Dorian’s. For once, she was glad that they were not in the new house, although Dorian had been biting at the bit to reclaim her house for weeks and weeks now. There was a measure of comfort in these familiar surroundings. She closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on her breathing. The last time Starr ran away she hid out over at Llanfair. She smiled and shook her head. Starr was truly the Manning Princess. Her child would not hide out in any old place—she needed a mansion, servants and gourmet food. “Blair.” It was Todd. She hadn’t heard him come into the living room. She took a deep breath and turned around slowly. Todd never entered a room quietly unless something was dreadfully wrong. At least, he was here. If something had happened…if Starr was dead…if his child was hurt and he couldn’t save her, she knew he wouldn’t have come at all. “She’s missing. It looks like someone took her. People reported seeing her on Lancaster and there was a car that…” Todd’s voice cracked. Blair didn’t move toward him. She didn’t cry. She didn’t wail. She waited. They had get through this. Todd cleared his throat. “There was a car that stopped and someone reported seeing her get in.” Air rushed out of her lungs. That simply was not true. “Starr wouldn’t do that, Todd. I told her a thousand times not to get into a car with a stranger.” Blair tried to keep her voice steady but tears were already creeping in a slow trickle down her cheeks. “She wouldn’t do that.” “I called Bo. They will be here in a few minutes.” Blair used her hands to wipe away the tears. Todd looked down at his hands. This was costing him. For him to call Bo…It was costing him. “Where’s Jack?” “He’s upstairs with Brianna.” For a long ten count he looked at her. She moved toward him and saw him swallow hard. He covered the distance between them in three steps and enveloped her in his arms. “I promise you I will find her and bring her home,” he whispered then pulled away. He walked out of the room. He was going to see Jack. She crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her sides. She would hold on. She would keep steady for Starr. ========= Todd walked into the living room five minutes later talking on his cell phone. She watched him for signs of panic but he was focused and determined. She had faith in him, even after everything that happened in the last year, she still had faith in him but she was changed forever. If Starr was missing she knew without asking him that he was going after her. The police would be the backup, not the show. But he was wrong if he thought she was going to sit here and wait for someone to find her child. She had lost too many children already. She would not lose another one even if she had to fight barehanded the ugly, twisted and downright nasty machinery of fate. She would follow every lead, knock on every door, examine every blade of grass, search every car and look for a clue in every face, until she found Starr. Todd flipped the phone shut and slipped it into his inside jacket pocket. “I’ve got to go, Blair.” “I know.” “I can’t be here, Blair, when the police come. Can’t even listen to them telling me what I can and cannot do. You understand. You know what to tell Bo. I’ll stay in touch.” “Okay.” Todd took long strides toward the door. She watched him with a strange sense of detachment. He had to do what he had to do, but so did she. Todd stopped suddenly and turned toward her. “I know what you’re thinking but let me handle it, Blair. Jack needs you. Starr needs you…we both need you here safe.” She couldn’t seem to speak. She bit her lower lip and nodded her head. What did it matter if she was lying? She had finally come to the conclusion that it was not that you lied to people you love but that you didn’t do it more carefully and judiciously. Todd had to do what he needed to do and her lie would make that possible. She was not going to waste her time and energy berating herself for doing what she had to do. Just as Todd turned away the phone rang. They both stood for a second and stared at it. Todd recovered first, lunged forward and picked up the receiver, “Yeah?” He turned and looked at Blair. “Where is she?” Blair felt her heart racing. Todd’s eyes never left her face. She felt as if she was suddenly drifting out to sea. “Put her on the phone.” Todd’s eyes darkened. “What the hell do you mean? Put her on, now! Starr….STARR.” Hearing Starr’s name released Blair from her trance. She rushed toward Todd and grabbed for the phone but he held her back. “What are you saying?… If you hurt her, I will kill you. You understand? Will kill you.” Blair pressed against Todd’s left hand, which he was using to hold her back. “Well, you better be scared. Damn scared because by the time I’m through with you, you’ll wish I’d finished you off a thousand times before I finally do. Do you understand?” Blair tried to control her breathing but she was so scared she felt her chest expand and contract at an alarming rate. She kept watching Todd’s face even when his words made no sense to her. He frowned and his eyes flashed. She held her breath. He slammed the phone back in the receiving base then stared at her. His eyes were cold as steel. Somehow she found her voice. “What is it? What did he say?” “He has Starr.” “What does he want? We can give him whatever he wants.” “Right now, all he wants is for Starr’s mother to stew in her own juices.” “What?” Blair was so confused that for moment all fear, anger and anxiety were replaced by a sense of dislocation. She locked her eyes on Todd’s face. “This is all about you,” hissed Todd. “I don’t understand.” “Neither do I but he told me you were a backstabbing slut.” Blair stumbled backwards from the words. Todd’s face contorted into something resembling a gargoyle. “What the hell have you done, Blair?” he yelled. The bracing chill of reality slapped her into full consciousness. She stepped further away from him. She watched his eyes as they devolved into pockets of black ice. She felt the rage she held in check behind steel doors swelling and threatening to burst free. It was the same rage that in a world without balance and reason had kept her floating upright more than once despite the stupid choices she made. She glared at him and locked her gaze onto his eyes then in a slow measured voice said, “Line.” “Line?” Todd’s face relaxed into a soft frown with one eyebrow raised sharply. “What the hell are you saying?” She did not answer him. She did not move. She did not shift her gaze. Todd narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying I crossed the line?” Blair lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “A madman took our little girl then told you it was because of me and you believed him. What do you think?” He shifted his gaze away from her face slowly. She kept her eyes locked on him for a few more seconds then turned and walked toward the sofa. Their child was missing. If Todd chose to believe it was her fault, so be it. The other shoe had dropped as far as she was concerned.
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