The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
Chapter 21
The clock struck 9 PM as Todd inserted the key in the lock. The house was quiet accept for the lovely, haunting toll of the chime ringing out the hour on the tall wall-clock, its mahogany gargoyles poised on the corners, ready to tear any intruder to shreds that dared disturb Todd Manning’s inner sanctum. As he entered the foyer he felt that warmth envelope him, that familiar excitement that simmered inside him every night when he entered this place. He was safe. He was home.
Tea came rushing out of the livingroom, all warmth and softness in creamy cashmere and jeans. His heart jumped.
“Amor…I was worried…where have you been?”
“I…uh…got…held up. You know how it is when there’s a snowstorm coming…like it never fucking snowed in Pennsylvania before. We had to prepare the scintillating ‘Winter-Storm-Watch’ edition. Anyway…we put the morning edition to bed…and…me and Briggs finally got out of there,” he said, kissing her softly as she came into his arms, his body immediately relaxing as all the noises in his head silenced to a gentle murmur…her touch like a sedative.
“Where is everybody,” he asked, rocking her slowly against him as Tea brushed the flakes of snow out of his hair and off his coat, playfully.
“Alma’s asleep, finally…Starr’s in her room finishing her homework…and Hedda…I think she’s in bed. And God’s in his heaven …and…I love you,” whispered Tea, smiling up at him. “Are you hungry?”
“Nah…we had some take-out. I’m tired as hell, though…traffic sucked.”
“Come on, querido,” she said as she pulled him into the livingroom, removing his overcoat. The fire was blazing and Tea poured him a glass of wine as he sat on the sofa. After handing it to him she walked around and started massaging his shoulders from behind.
Todd closed his eyes. He’d always hated the concept of “suburbia”…the dull trappings of respectability and success, of “settling down.” Lazy Sundays…men obsessed with lawns…chubby women in shorts flipping burgers while their brats rode their bikes around and around a dull cul-de-sac. Rows of duplicated houses set like cages in a zoo and the people living within them lazy, domesticated animals who only vaguely resembled their wild ancestors…their eyes dull and passionless, their natural instincts tamed, their lusts eradicated.
But…it turned out to be the exact opposite for him. Tea’s love had set him free. He’d been terrified of releasing the beast inside himself, afraid of losing control and destroying everything he loved. His father had created a monster within him, one who victimized women and threw away innocent newborns and he’d become afraid of his own natural urges. It was Tea who opened the cage door and reached in, holding out her hand until he had the courage to take it and step out into the world with her, unafraid…a deaf, dumb and blind creature who’d tried to decipher everything at arms length was suddenly able to feel, and see…and experience everything. She embraced his wildness and encouraged his aggression, letting him unleash his passions in the safety of her love…allowing him to be what he’d never been able to be before…himself.
“See now…this is how you should greet your man every night…not spend all your time defending those lowlifes in Angel Square,” he said, moaning softly as her hands pressed and kneaded his tired flesh expertly.
Tea laughed.
“And I suppose you want me in some flimsy Victoria’s Secrets outfit and high heels while holding a martini, too.”
“Hell, no…I want you naked in high heels while holding a martini.”
They laughed as Todd placed his glass on the table and reached up behind him, pulling Tea over the sofa and onto his lap. They kissed slowly, their tongues savoring the delicious essence of their touch.
“Te quiero, amor,” she whispered quietly. Tea caressed his face, her fingers tracing his beautiful mouth when she noticed blood on his collar. She jumped up quickly.
“Todd? There’s blood on your shirt.”
Pulling his collar open she examined it more closely and saw three bloody gashes on the side of his throat, the skin bruised and swollen against his pale flesh.
“Oh my God…what happened?”
Todd shook his head.
“It’s nothing, Tea…it was…uh…Blair.”
“Blair? You saw Blair?”
“Yeah…in the parking garage at The Sun.”
“Let me take care of that…I’ll be right back.”
Tea left the room and Todd stood up, his fingers touching the stinging wound on his neck as he stared at the fire, his face darkened by the memories of what happened earlier with Blair. Tea came back in carrying a first aid kit. Sitting beside him, she carefully cleaned the scratches with antiseptic as Todd winced with pain.
“Querido…I wonder if you’ll need a tetanus shot?”
“More like a rabies shot.”
Tea laughed as she placed a white gauze bandage over the wound.
“What was Blair doing in the parking garage?”
Todd hesitated a bit…then, slowly, started talking.
“She’d called earlier when I was still in the office...saying she wanted to see Starr. I told her to get herself a lawyer because that wasn’t going to happen and I hung up on her…and left. When I got to my car…there she was. I don’t know how the hell she got in cause…I didn’t see her car. Anyway…she started yapping…same old crap about seeing Starr. When I told her to get lost…she comes lunging at me and starts scratching me like some crazed witch. She got me on the neck before I was able to push her away. I just got into my car and drove off…leaving her there.”
Tea was dazed.
“My, God, Todd! She sounds completely demented. Maybe we should report this to the police…”
“NO! No police.”
“Why not…she assaulted you. This could send her back to prison, Todd.”
Todd stared at her and took a gulp of his wine.
“I’d love that…but…I can’t do that to Starr. She’s been through too much already these last few weeks. I can’t be the one to put Blair back in prison…you know that, Tea.”
Tea nodded her head slowly.
“Yeah…I suppose. But, Todd…this is kind of scary. Maybe we should call Sam…make him aware of how unstable she is.”
“Yeah…she was strange…really nuts. At first she seemed okay…then…she just started screaming and attacking me, tugging at my clothes…she even pulled off some buttons,” he said pointing to his torn shirt. “Weird.”
Tea finished taping the gauze to his throat and kissed his wound.
“I’ll call Sam in the morning…let him know what’s going on,” said Tea as she closed the first-aid kit and placed it on the table. Todd was looking into the fire…shaking a little.
“She spooked you, amor…didn’t she?”
“Yeah…she was freaked out.”
“Maybe…there is something to that Cramer Curse after all, who knows?”
“I can’t believe her blood flows in Starr’s veins. I need to keep Starr away from her…I don’t care what I have to do to accomplish that, Tea,” he said, frightening Tea with his icy stare.
“Todd…please. Promise me you’ll stay away from her. I think she’s more dangerous than either one of us wants to believe. She was willing to use Starr to hurt you…now…she seems even more desperate. I still think we should let Bo know about this incident. And if it happens again…I think we should consider a restraining order.”
Todd pulled her to him, squeezing her tightly against him.
“Fuck, Blair. We’re safe from that harpy here. Security won’t let her anywhere near this place.”
“It’s ridiculous to live like this, Todd. After what she pulled with Starr…I wouldn’t put anything past her. But…I think her anger is directed at you…that’s the feeling I got when I spoke with her. And…there was another thing that she said that keeps nagging at me…”
“What?” asked Todd, pulling away from her.
“After Starr called me and I went to Blair’s, she showed up. She seemed to be well informed about what was happening between us…she said something like…you needing other women to get off…yeah…that’s what she said.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Well…I think she was referring to what happened on the waterfront, with that young hooker but…how could she know about that?”
“She couldn’t. The only people that know about that are you, me and the Wolfman. Are you sure you heard her right?”
“Yeah…I’m positive.”
Todd paced around a bit than turned to Tea.
“Do you think…she had something to do with her…that she set me up?”
“I don’t see how she could. She had no way of knowing that I would be there, Todd.”
“I don’t know…Blair knows me well enough to know I always go down by the river to clear my head. She knew I’d lose it after what she told Starr… maybe she had me followed by someone…that woman. Maybe she had meant to blackmail me with it…you showing up wasn’t suppose to happen…it was a bonus.”
“Maybe…it sounds pretty far-fetched but…I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
“I’m going to kill that bitch…” said Todd as he started heading for the door.
“No. Todd…don’t,” she said, taking hold of his arm. “We can’t prove any of this…and…it doesn’t matter. She tried to destroy us…and it didn’t work. This time…we won, amor.”
Todd reached down brushed his fingers against her pretty face.
“Yeah…I guess we did. She’s got nothing to hold over me now,” he said, leaning down and kissing her tenderly…then more forcefully. His hands reached behind her head to pull her mouth closer, making her moan sweetly beneath his delicious aggressiveness, her softness melting into him. Todd pulled away, aroused and breathless, overwhelmed by his unrelenting appetite for her.
“Come on…let’s go to bed…I want to play with you,” he whispered as he pulled her toward the stairway.
Tea smiled knowingly, her eyes locked with his as they headed upstairs. When the doorbell rang it startled them…sounding intrusive and ominous in the quiet house. Tea jumped as Todd walked over and swung the door wide open as a cold blast of wind blew through the house, making their heated bodies tremble.
Bo Buchanan and a local police officer stood there, their shoulders speckled white by the falling snow.
“Bo?”
Tea came up beside Todd.
“Bo…what are you doing out here?”
“I’m sorry…I know it’s late, Tea. But…we need to talk to Todd.”
“My office hours are nine to five…call my secretary…make an appointment,” barked Todd, closing the door before Bo reached out to stop him.
“This isn’t a joke, Manning. Blair Cramer’s been raped…and she said you did it.”
2003 Copyright by Trog
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