Tomas trudged up the driveway to Victor's house. He stood back, looking at it for a moment, wondering why he never thought of it as Victor and Tea's. There was so little of his sister in the decor. In fact, he'd go so far as to say there was very little of Victor in there, either. The whole place just seemed to be pieced together from home decor magazines. No real personality at all.
Much like Victor himself.
He sighed as he thought about his conversation with Blair. He had entertained such hopes for them. In his heart of hearts, he had wanted her to choose him even knowing what he had done because it would have allowed him to let go of those events eight years ago. It was wrong to seek redemption through another but after so many years of wallowing in his past he had hoped that Blair would be the gateway to a new life and freedom from his old one.
Was that even possible? The better part of his life had been spent in special ops and he simply didn't know how to turn that off. Even living eight years as a painter he had never given up the operative. He lived in shadows, always watching his back, always expecting to either be put down or dragged back in. He had spent those eight years under his own Sword of Damocles.
What could he have truly offered Blair anyway? To have her love him wouldn't change anything he had done or any fear that remained within him. If he were to be truly honest with himself, it would have only exacerbated the situation. To put his own dark past to rest, he had to follow through with helping clean up the mess he had inadvertently made. Todd Manning had been taken from his own life. Victor Lord Jr. had been turned into a cypher without his own identity and was therefore clinging to the one that he had been thrust into.
Tomas was going to find the means of proving who was whom once and for all. He would do anything required to help his sister and his niece through all of this and finally put the remnants of Irene's organization to rest. That was his penance. Then maybe he would find some peace.
As he neared the front door he heard his sister and Victor fighting inside. As it seemed to be something they thrived on he didn't think too much of it but prepared himself anyway. Victor had yet to make a remotely good impression on him.
"...some lawyer you are!" Victor bellowed as Tomas entered the foyer. "I thought you were supposed to be the best!"
"This is just a bump in the road, Victor."
"A bump?! Like hell! That bastard has managed to freeze everything that's mine and you call that a bump? He caught you flat-footed, Tea!"
"Blair found him a good lawyer. I wasn't exactly expecting that!"
"Blair isn't as stupid as you think she is!"
"That remains to be seen!"
"What the hell is going on here?" Tomas entered the living room, startling both Tea and Victor. He shot Tea a stern look, not appreciating her digs on Blair. He was going to have to get to the bottom of that one.
Tea didn't respond but Victor was all too eager to air the dirty laundry. "Your sister got beat in court! All of the assets of Todd Manning have been frozen!"
"Is that so?" Tomas found that interesting. What was Victor going to do now that he didn't have millions to throw around at anyone who got in his way?
"The judge agreed with Todd's new attorney that Victor might start trying to hide all of his money before the issue of identity has been settled," Tea sighed. It irked her because Victor was right. She had been taken unawares by this Cybil Claremont and it didn't sit well with her. She already had an intern at her office pulling as much information on the woman as possible so she'd know exactly who she was dealing with from now on.
What was even more irritating was that Blair had gotten one over on her. Todd was so completely out of the loop that he didn't have any contacts to speak of anymore. Cybil Claremont was not hired by Viki, Tea knew that down to her toes, so all that was left was Blair. It shouldn't have surprised her because Blair had basically declared her allegiance the second Todd said 'I am' at the movie premiere but she felt blindsided all the same.
When she glanced at her brother, Tea noticed that Tomas seemed rather amused by the turn of events. "So, who's paying the bills while the money's all tied up?"
Victor snarled at him. "It definitely won't be you, you blood-sucker! Maybe you'll finally give us a break and go mooch off of Blair for awhile!"
Tomas didn't say anything. He just offered a benign smile to Victor which only served to make Victor more angry.
"Or has she given you the old heave-ho now that the ugly, scarred up face she loves so much is back in her life?"
"Wasn't that face yours, too?"
"I got an upgrade," Victor sneered.
"Yes," Tea piped up, giving her brother a warning look. "Yes, you did." She went over to Victor and ran her hand up his arm.
"He shows up with that ugly mug and thinks he can just take everything that's mine? That's bullshit. It should all have been mine," Victor continued, his eyes alight with anger. "My paper, my money, my kids..."
"Those kids have always been his," Tomas replied, not liking what Victor seemed to be alluding to. Was Tea hearing any of this, he wondered.
"They should have been mine! All of it! But he's the one who had it all! But he's not getting any of it back! It's mine now and I'll die before I hand it over! I'm the one who carries the name!" Victor stormed over to his desk, ripping open the drawer and pulling out a ring. He waved it in Tomas' face. "All along, I should have been the one Victor Lord recognized! I should have been the one to get this from the old man himself! Did I ever get the chance?" He flung the ring across the room. "No! I never did! And I'll never get my satisfaction from my crazy mother for that, either! Because of him!" Victor tore out of the living room and up the stairs.
Tea shot Tomas a resigned look and followed after her husband.
Tomas shook his head at his sister's back but waited until he heard her footsteps in the upstairs hall before crossing the room to where Victor had thrown the ring. He picked it up and studied it. It was a gold signet ring with an Old English styled 'L' emblazoned on it.
"Yes," he breathed. "I think this is just what we've been looking for." He pocketed the ring and headed out the front door, calling John McBain as soon as the door was shut.
Todd wandered around the park trying to work up the nerve to go the hospital and make an appointment for the tests Cybil wanted for him. He was never exactly fond of hospitals as a rule. He'd disliked them ever since he'd been hospitalized as a child. He'd never been to the hospital on a good visit that he could remember. It was all gunshots, stab wounds, busted hands, miscarriages, aplastic anemia, strokes and comas.
Still, if it was necessary to get his life back, he'd do it. He just had to work himself up to it.
There was a group of people doing Tai Chi under a large elm tree. He watched them for a moment wondering when that had become a thing. His eye was captured by someone in particular just as he was about to move and he did a double take.
It looked like Addie.
That was impossible, wasn't it?
He looked around trying to spot the nuns that were always on hand when it came to outside days for the St. Anne's residents. The Tai Chi instructor definitely wasn't a nun being that he was a man.
The woman who looked like Addie paused then bounced up and down waving a hand enthusiastically over her head. "Todd! Todd!"
Good God, it really was Addie. Todd stared.
Addie made quick apologies to the instructor and scampered over to Todd smiling brightly. "Oh, Todd, I heard you were back! Blair has been talking about you constantly."
"She has?"
"Oh," Addie's sunny face dimmed momentarily. "I'm not sure I was supposed to say that."
"Well, it's nice to hear anyway," Todd told her. "Um... what's going on?"
"I do Tai Chi here every day when I'm not traveling."
"Traveling?" Todd sputtered. "St. Anne's has gone on the road?"
"What?" Addie looked momentarily confused. "Oh! Oh, no, Todd," she laughed. "I'm not in St. Anne's anymore."
"Where do you stay then? Did St. Anne's go under?"
"I'm fine, I don't need to stay in any care facilities now."
Todd shook his head. "I've gone down the rabbit hole."
Addie stared at him for a moment and then laughed her laugh again. Todd always thought that Addie's laugh would be how teddy bears would laugh if they ever came to life. Hearing her laugh always made him feel weirdly happy. "Like Alice? Oh, Todd. You're so funny."
"Blair didn't mention that you were out and about," Todd commented, grinning at her.
"Blair's had a lot on her mind," Addie turned serious. "You coming back has really thrown her for a loop and she's been trying so hard to have it make sense for the kids. It's hard to know what to say."
"I bet," Todd nodded. He could understand that. He could barely make sense of it all. "I'd like to help her."
Addie gave him a stern look which knocked Todd for a loop. There wasn't any of that faraway confusion in her eyes anymore. Addie was very definitely in the game now. She seemed to be sizing him up. "You've hurt Blair a lot, Todd."
"I know."
She waited. "And?"
"And I'm sorry?"
"I wish I'd followed through and kicked Victor's butt when he hurt her the last time like I told him. He was so sincere and earnest about doing it right this time and I thought he was you..."
"He wasn't me."
"He treated her as if he were you for a long time," Addie explained. "He cherished her and loved her and lied to her and then got mad when she didn't like him lying to her. I thought he was you. He acted like you in so many ways."
Todd didn't like hearing it. He didn't like thinking about how Victor fooled everyone into believing he was really Todd Manning. Nothing about it sit right and he hadn't broached the subject with anyone since he had unloaded on Blair because it continued to enrage him. He wanted to understand but all he did was get mad.
"You know, I've missed seeing that scar."
Todd grinned ruefully. "You may be the only one, Addie."
"No, I'm not. Starr missed it, too. But mostly Blair. She missed you. She missed you even when you were still here."
Well, Addie may not have had to stay in St. Anne's anymore but that didn't necessarily mean she made that much sense. Todd shook his head. "What?"
"You hurt her, Todd. You hurt my beautiful girl because all you did was lie to her. If you want her back and I know you do, you have to promise me something."
Todd was almost afraid to ask. "Promise what?"
"Don't lie to her!"
He heaved a sigh. "Addie..."
"She's on your side, Todd."
"I know that."
"Do you?" Addie's gaze was frighteningly intense. "She's not a pawn for you to move around. She's smart and brave and will do anything for the people she loves."
"I know," Todd's voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"I ruined the trust that you had in her all of those years ago," Addie said sadly.
"What?"
Addie sighed. "Max Holden pretended to care about Blair... he promised me that he only wanted to help her and that's why I told him that Blair lied about the baby."
Todd was stunned. All of those years and he never knew that it was Addie who told Max about Blair's lie.
"I thought he was my friend... he lied to me because he wanted to hurt Blair and because I couldn't tell the difference, I was what he used to do that. He used one of the two people she loved and trusted the most to hurt the other. I thought you had gotten past all of that."
"I did... I got over that first lie years ago."
"Why did you turn on her after that?"
"Thornheart," Todd shoved his hands in his pockets angrily. "Coming home and seeing her with him..."
"She thought you were dead."
"And then she lied about being with him!"
"Do you blame her?"
That tripped him up. "What? I... what do you mean?"
"She spent a year fighting to hold onto the things you built, and to bring your daughter into the world, trying to hold onto to any part of you. None of that was easy, you know. She thought you were dead and it broke her heart," Addie shook her head. "When you came back, her dream had come true... she was scared to death of ruining that. She was afraid that telling the truth about Patrick would drive you from her again... just when she had got you back. And in the years after that, it wasn't her lies that drove you apart it was yours.
"Every time you'd be together or come close to being together, she'd be so happy and then it was all destroyed. So I'm telling you now, Todd. If you want to be with her, don't lie. Don't treat her like she's stupid. Don't manage her. Go back to those days when you were both so happy... when you believed in and trusted each other."
He wanted to argue but he couldn't. Addie was right. He had gone over all the mistakes for the past eight years. He'd played them out in his head over and over and over again trying to hold onto every shred he could. It wasn't just Blair's lies when he came back from Ireland that made a mess of things. His relationship with Tea had thoroughly damaged what little trust and faith he had built up in his life.
He had no intention of making those mistakes again.
"You know, Addie. You've still got more on the ball that just about everyone in this town."
John inspected the signet ring that Tomas gave him. "You think this is our ticket to find out the truth?"
"It's the first thing I've been able to find that I honestly believe would be a reasonable place to hide this chip," Tomas opened the messenger bag he had with him and took out a bizarre looking headgear. It looked like a cross between lab goggles and half a wielder's mask. He held it out to John.
John took it, giving Tomas an uncertain look. "What the hell is this?"
"It's a jeweler's magnification lens."
"You just have this?"
"It's useful," Tomas gave him a significant look. "Very useful. Put it on and take a look."
John did so and looked at the ring. "What am I looking at?"
"You can see the ring has been altered. The gold is slightly rough just below the edge of the signet, like it was filled in or painted over or something."
"I do see that," John nodded and took the headgear off. "I think we should bring Manning in. Seeing this, he might remember something."
"What if he doesn't?"
"If he doesn't, no harm done, we'll still look into it. I just think having him in is the right move."
"It's your call, McBain."
