ANOTHER SECOND CHANCE - PART NINE

PREVIOUSLY

An idea begins to form in Tea's mind, "Well, since Cassie and Andrew share custody now, it's probably safe to assume Cassie had some idea of where Minnie would be taking Starr and River, and if Cassie knew then maybe..."

"Step daddy Kevin knew," Todd finishes her thought.

There eyes meet, and a grin spreads slowly across Todd's face.

"Oh, Delgado, I love the way your mind works."

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John Sykes sits at his desk. The visit from Asa Buchanan had unnerved him. At the time, the deal had been so simple. Asa would make sure Manning got caught violating one of his conditions of probation. Then, Sykes would switch the witness' statements with ones that corroborated Manning's guilt. He also had to ensure Manning was quickly transferred, so he wouldn't get to talk to anyone, especially Tea. Manning would be gone, and Asa would "arrange" for Sykes not to be implicated in the Barbara Graham coverup. She would be punished, along with her father, for Drew's murder, but Sykes would get to keep his job. But since Manning had escaped from the institution, Sykes had been nervous. He had even tried to find him, not to bring him back to Llanview, but so he could keep an eye on him.

His mind drifts to Tea. She was fiercely protective of her husband. Sykes never understood it, in fact he had hoped with Manning out of the picture he could get closer to Tea. But she was faithful to Todd, never returning his interest. Why would she re-open this case? Was she trying to find him? He was sure he had covered his tracks. He had to hope Tea didn't find Todd, because if she ever spoke to him, she would definitely be suspicious.

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Tea is driving back to Llanview. She was going to speak to Minnie about the day of Todd's arrest. Minnie no longer worked for Blair, she had left about a month after the incident with Todd had occurred. Tea had managed to track her down through the agency. Tea prays her hunch that Minnie's statement was tampered with is right. Her mind drifts back to Todd...these past few days had made her wonder how she ever lived without him. She smiles as she thinks back to this morning...waking up in Todd's arms. She knows he doesn't sleep...but he seems to like to lie there and just hold her. "This has to work, Todd...we deserve this...a life together in Llanview...you, me and Starr."

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Viki joins Todd in the living room of the cabin. She had come up to visit and to see if Todd and Tea needed her help.
"Where's Tea?"
"Back in Llanview, she's going to talk to Starr's old nanny."
"So you two have come up with a way out of this."
Todd grins. "We have a theory. Delgado, she's smart, you know."
Viki smiles, "Yes, she is...and you're pretty smart yourself. So...can you let me in on it?"
Todd looks warily at Viki, "You're not going to like it."
Viki sighs, "Probably not...but tell me anyway."
"I was setup...somebody planned for me to be at the park that day and make it look like I deliberately planned to see Starr. And there's a good chance the people responsible have the last name Buchanan."
Viki eyes him somewhat suspiciously, "Todd, don't jump to conclusions."
"I'm not...look we don't have concrete proof yet...but we're working on it."
"Well, I hope you're wrong Todd...but it wouldn't surprise me if you weren't."
Todd decides to change the subject. "I see my paper is still whipping the Banner."
Viki smiles. "Tea and Blair have done a very good job."
Todd laughs, "Yeah, Delgado told me she takes care of the law stuff and Blair does not the paper stuff...I can't believe they are actually working together...and there hasn't been bloodshed."
"Well, I'm not sure they actually 'work together' that often...but they seemed to have called somewhat of a truce for Starr's sake. You know, Tea poured her heart into the Sun after you left. I guess it made her feel close to you while you were gone."
"That's my Delgado."
Viki's eyes fall on Todd's police statement, which is sitting on the table. She quickly scans over it. "That's not what happened, is it?"
"No, I told you, I was setup...that's not my actual statement."
Viki rolls her eyes. "Well it wouldn't surprise me at all if there was something funny going on at the police department. I know you hate him, but at least Bo was a good commissioner. I have my doubts about Sykes."
"Tell me about it."
"Ever since that whole Graham case," Viki begins, but Todd interrupts her. "What does Sykes have to do with that?"
"Well, he is very close to both Senator Graham and Barbara. There had been talk that he had been covering for Barbara about Drew's murder. You remember that don't you?"
"Vaguely...yeah...I think there was an article in the Sun about it. Apparently he wasn't charged with anything."
"No, he wasn't. It was strange...all of the talk, the suspicions just seemed to disappear. In fact, it seemed to die down around the time you were arrested....I guess Todd Manning is more interesting than the commissioner being suspected of obstructing justice," Viki says, half jokingly.

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Tea walks up to the door of the small house. She takes a deep breath, and nervously twists her wedding ring. She realizes how much is riding on this conversation with Minnie. She has to be right about this. Starr deserves to have Todd in Llanview. She knocks on the door.
After a minute, Minnie answers the door, a somewhat surprised look coming over her face as she sees Tea standing there.
Tea smiles. "Hi...Minnie...you probably don't remember me.."
"Of course I do Mrs. Manning...just surprised that's all. Is Starr alright?"
Minnie suddenly looks worried. She had adored Starr.
"Oh, yes, she's fine. I'm sorry, I should have called first."
"What can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to you. It's very important. I need you to tell me what happened the day my husband was arrested.

To be continued....