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The Tessarae Inn |
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Regrets In Jade Tones
CHAPTER 11 “Don’t turn away from me, Blair,” yelled Todd in a loud, ragged voice. “Look at me.” She whipped around toward him. He stared into her eyes. He felt as if his head was going to explode. He tried to turn away but he couldn’t. She stared back at him with defiance, shock and grief but he saw no guilt there. He finally glanced away. The one promise he made to himself after all of the ugliness of the baby lie was that he would never again be so willing to think the worst of her. Some monster took their child and for a moment there he was more than willing to believe that somehow it was all Blair’s fault. “She’s all right,” he said softly. “I heard her calling for me, Blair. She’s alive.” Blair’s face so defiant a moment ago crumpled. He walked to her and pulled her into his arms, “I’m sorry about what I said.” He felt the movement of her head. He moved his body as close to her as possible. He needed to go but somehow he couldn’t make himself leave her. She needed him and he probably needed her even more. He let himself hold her for just a little while. “Excuse, me.” Todd stepped back slightly and turned toward the voice. It was Faith. She was shaking like she had just gotten off of a very fast roller coaster. There was something about her that he didn’t trust but Fred vouched for her. Fred. Where exactly was Fred? Finding Fred was the first thing on his list. “Commissioner Buchanan to see you,” said Faith. Her voice wavered in and out. Bo walked into the living room before Faith finished speaking. “Todd. Blair. I’m sorry about this. The rest of the team is on my heels. What can you tell me?” Todd noted that Faith scurried away. It was almost as if she didn’t want to spend more time than she had to around the police. He understood the feeling but no one in close contact with his family had a right to feel that way. “Have you heard anything?” “We just got a call,” said Blair. She stepped out of Todd’s embrace completely and faced Bo. “He has Starr. She’s alive.” “What about Jason?” Blair looked at Todd. He grunted then said, “I didn’t hear him but he indicated that Jason was with Starr.” Bo waited for a second then said, “Tell me everything he said, Manning. We are on the same side here.” Todd glanced over at Blair. “He said he has the children but he’s not ready to negotiate yet. He wants us to stew.” “Actually,” said Blair, “he said he wanted ‘Starr’s mother to stew in her own juices.’ Then called me a backstabbing slut.” Bo stared at her for a minute as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard. Blair stared back with a steady gaze. Bo tapped his pen on his notepad. “Sounds like someone with a personal grudge. Does this make sense to you, Blair?” “No. And I’ll say this even though it should be obvious. I would never risk Starr’s life for any reason. If I had stabbed someone in the back, especially while being a slut, I would tell you.” Todd noticed that Bo looked at Blair and smiled as if she had made a joke, but Blair stared back at him with an unchanged expression. Bo cleared his throat and turned toward him. “Did he say anything else, Manning?” “He mentioned RJ. Said he shouldn’t try to take things… ” “This involves RJ?” What the hell? Todd turned and saw Toni rushing into the room. “Someone has my son and it’s RJ’s fault? This can’t be right. My son is in trouble because I let RJ into his life?” Blair walked to Toni. “Don’t do this,” she said softly. “We don’t know what this is about. All we know is that a crazy person has our children.” “RJ…” “He said it was because of me, too.” Toni stared at Blair then dropped her head. They both started crying then hugged. Todd shook his head. Women operated in a mode he simply didn’t understand. By the time Antonio Vega strolled into the room followed by several police officers and men in nondescript dark suits Todd was ready to strangle someone. Just as he was about to leave though, he saw RJ. They needed to get some things straight and he couldn’t afford to waste time tracking him down when he was right here now. In a few seconds, the room was transformed into LPD’s version of controlled chaos. ============ Todd sat beside Blair on the sofa. Toni sat on the far end of the couch and RJ sat above her on the arm of the sofa. Antonio peppered RJ and Toni with questions. How old was Jason? Was he a rebellious child? How much time did he spend with RJ? Was RJ working any kind of illegal deal recently? RJ and Toni seemed barely able to tolerate Antonio. Under different circumstances watching the two of them seethe as Antonio puffed himself up more and more over his new authority would have been amusing, but this was too serious to think about such things. Antonio shifted his gaze to Blair. Todd bristled. He hated Antonio on general principle and didn’t have much faith that he knew his ass from a coconut and he hated that Blair was caught in the crosshairs because he called the police. “Blair, can you think of anyone who may have a grudge against you, regardless of how unwarranted or minor?” “I’m sure half of Llanview has a grudge against me, Todd or RJ,” said Blair. She raked her fingers through her hair and tapped her right foot lightly. “I just can’t think of anything that would have triggered this reaction.” “Employees? Staff? I hear you’ve started a new company. Have you stepped on anyone’s toes?” “I’m just getting off the ground. I haven’t had a chance to offend anyone to this degree.” “Starr has run away before. Is it possible that the caller was lying to you? Could she be with a family member?” “We’ve called Viki and Llanfair is being searched from top to bottom, but Dorian, Cassie and Kelly are on a trip together in South America.” “Vacation?” “They wanted me to come and bring Starr—the Cramer Women on Holiday—but I didn’t want to take Starr out of school and I was so busy with my company….” Blair began to cry. “If I had gone, Starr would be okay.” Todd leaned his shoulder against Blair’s to steady her. She leaned back then wiped her tears away. “Can you think of anything else, Blair?” “No.” “What about you, RJ?” “I’ve told you everything I can think of.” “You rarely tell everything about anything.” “Antonio,” said Toni in a tight tone, “save your personal hissy fits for less important times. We’ve all told you everything we can think of. These are OUR children and I can guarantee you that no one else cares as much as we do about getting them home. No one is holding back anything that could possibly help.” Antonio ran his tongue across his upper teeth then stood up. “I assume you’ll be available for further questions if so warranted.” Todd had reached his limit. He stood up. “Vega, I’m sure your particular expertise is in dire need on the other side of the room. Why don’t you salsa on over there?” Antonio glared at him and he could hear RJ quietly chortling in the background. Todd turned to glance at RJ but shifted his attention when he spotted Faith bringing a tray of food into the room. He watched her and every instinct in his body was telling him that she was not right. He called to her. She glanced at the door then walked over to them slowly. “Yes, sir?” “Sit down, Faith. We want to talk to you.” “Things are really busy here and…” Blair seemed to go on alert immediately. She stood up and moved next to Todd. “I think you better sit down right now. My little girl is missing.” Faith flopped onto the couch. Todd glanced at Blair and realized they were both reacting to the same vibe. “Did anyone here have a grudge against my wife?” Faith looked away. “I suggest you start talking right now,” said Blair. Faith whipped in head around violently. “How could anyone not have a grudge against a bitch like you,” she spat. What the hell! Did this crazy woman just insult his wife in his presence? He drew in a lung full of air and opened his mouth… Blair, though, did not seem to let the comment faze her. She stepped slightly in front of him and faced Faith directly. “Explain yourself. Now.” Faith’s lower lip trembled. “You should be ashamed of yourself for what you did to Fred. You never even apologized. He has a right to hate your guts…” Antonio suddenly appeared at Blair’s side. “Who’s Fred?” “The limo driver,” said RJ, who along with Toni had moved closer to Faith. “The one who was supposed to pick up Starr and Jason?” “That’s the one,” said Todd as he exhaled. Todd cut his eye at RJ who maintained a neutral expression but locked the fingers of his hands together and nodded once. Todd turned and walked away. Antonio called after him, “Manning, wait. We need to talk. Are you sure you told me everything.” Todd didn’t break stride. Just as he stepped into the foyer, he looked over his shoulder at Blair. For just a few seconds her gaze held him suspended in a place that only they could reach. “He’s probably going to kill him,” screamed Faith then burst into loud sobs. Todd reached for his cell phone as he headed out of the front door. Faith wasn’t nearly as stupid as she looked.
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