PREVIOUSLY

“It’s me,” he said in a low voice. “Do you have anything for me on that matter we discussed?” He listened in silence. “Well, Detective, I suggest you dig a little deeper and a little harder. You’d better have something the next time I call or that little story of taking a bribe might find its way to your superiors. It would be a shame for you to spend the next 20 years of your life in Joliet, wouldn’t it?” He closed the phone abruptly, then looked again at Téa’s window. He leered for a moment at her figure silhouetted against the drapes, then melted back into the shadows, leaving an almost palpable trail of evil in his wake.

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Téa watched the red-lighted numbers ticking away as she rode the elevator to the twelfth floor of the Manning Building. She was wearing a casual, dove gray sleeveless summer dress as she fiddled nervously with the catch on her briefcase. When the doors opened, she stepped out cautiously and looked around. A hand-written temporary banner indicated the offices of Llanview Today. The room was filled with several young people rushing around looking extremely busy. Téa tried to catch someone’s eye to ask directions, but everyone seemed to have a phone attached to an ear or eyes glued to a computer monitor. Finally, at the far end of the room she recognized Todd’s long-time secretary, Lou, seated behind a desk. Lou waved at her in a friendly manner as she finished up a phone call. Téa could hear the sound of raised voices coming through the door at the secretary’s back. “Hello, Ms. Delgado,” said Lou warmly as she hung up the receiver. “It’s so good to see you again. Mr. Manning is expecting you, but it appears his meeting with the senior staff is running a little late. Perhaps you would like to take a seat,” she said, indicating some comfortable-looking chairs.

“Thanks, Lou. I’d rather look around a bit, if that’s OK,” said Téa thoughtfully. “I can’t believe how quickly you all got this up and running.”

“Well, you know Mr. Manning,” said Lou with an enigmatic grin. “Once he gets an idea, there is no stopping him. He’s determined to get the first issue of the magazine on the stands by the new millennium, even if he runs the staff into the ground in the process.” Téa nodded knowingly as the door behind Lou opened suddenly. A handful of ashen-faced men and women emerged, looking like they couldn’t get away fast enough.

“And remember I want it in two days or you’re all fired!” shouted Todd’s voice. Téa and Lou exchanged amused looks as the secretary indicated to Téa that she could go in. A few feet into the room, she met Charlie Briggs, who was fumbling with a huge stack of mock-ups and papers. He was dressed in hideously bright plaid pants and a Kelly green golf sweater, and although he looked harried, he couldn’t hide his good humor as he greeted Téa.

“Mr. Briggs!” said Téa brightly. “It looks like your impossible boss has pulled you off the golf course.” Briggs gave her his lop-sided grin and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Oh, I don’t really mind, Ms. Delgado,” he said. “I’ve learned to listen when Mr. Manning gets one of his ideas, even if the timing could be more convenient.” Téa waved him on and turned toward the desk with an indulgent grin. Her smile froze in place as she saw that Todd was not alone. He was engrossed in something on his desk, as a tall blonde woman leaned over his shoulder pointing out various items she wanted him to notice. With one hand braced on the desktop, she was extremely close to him, and her hair brushed his upper arm each time she moved. Clearing her throat loudly, Téa bit back an irrational fit of jealously as she saw Todd glance at the woman appreciatively. As they looked up, Todd looked happy to see her, but the woman definitely wasn’t pleased by the interruption. She looked back and forth at the couple impatiently, obviously put out by the way they silently greeted each other with their eyes.

“Todd,” she said petulantly. “You really need to make a decision about this or we can’t proceed with anything else.” Reluctantly, Todd looked away from Téa and glanced up at the blonde.

“We’ll talk later,” he said firmly, holding up a hand to cut her off when she would have protested. “This is about my kid, and nothing is more important than that.” He stood up and walked around to the front of his desk. Téa was surprised to see that he was wearing well-worn blue jeans and an open-collared white shirt, instead of a business suit. As he sat on the edge of the desk and stretched his long legs in front of him, she could see that he had on loafers, but no socks. “Uh, this is Téa Delgado,” he said to the blonde, who immediately looked wary, recognizing the name. “And uh…this is Heidi Chalmers, the stylist for the magazine.” The two women shook hands, staring at the other coldly as they sized each other up. Not at all thrilled to be dismissed, Heidi sauntered to the door, glaring at Téa for a moment before she stepped through. Téa stared after her a moment, not liking her unmistakable resemblance to Blair Cramer. “Well, Delgado,” said Todd a little impatiently. “What have you got for me?”

Forcing herself to concentrate on the matter at hand, Téa moved to the desk and opened her briefcase, handing Todd a sheaf of legal papers. “I think you’ll find everything we talked about,” she said in a business-like manner. She watched as Todd skimmed through the legalese, flipping through the papers impatiently. “When are they getting back?” He looked up at her with his tawny eyes and Téa was mesmerized for a moment.

“I’m picking them up at the airport tonight,” he said, not bothering to hide his excitement. Shaking herself, Téa folded her arms across her chest and took a deep breath.

“Now Todd,” she said in warning. “Don’t go throwing these papers in Blair’s lap as soon as she gets off the plane. You don’t want to get her defenses up. There really is nothing in there that she should object to, but I’m sure she’ll want to have her own lawyer look them over. And….and it probably would be best if you leave my name out of it. She doesn’t trust me.”

Todd rolled his eyes. “Sheesh, Delgado, give me some credit, will you? I may not even give her the papers tonight. I don’t want anything to spoil Shorty’s homecoming.” He gave her a sly look. “I’m going to pick up a pizza and take them to my new place. Once Starr gets a look at all the cool stuff I got for her, she’ll make Blair’s life miserable until she gives in on the visitation thing.”

Téa’s lips twitched. “Not the worst strategy I’ve heard,” she said in amusement. “Just remember that Blair is more likely to respond positively if you smooth talk her instead of threaten.”

“Me? Smooth talk? Delgado, remember who you’re talking about here.” They shared a chuckle as Todd’s cell phone began to ring. Shrugging in impatience, he pulled it from his breast pocket. “What?” he snarled.

“It’s me,” said a smooth voice on the other end. “I’m starting to make some real headway here. Looks like our boy Sykes was into all kinds of dirty games in Washington. Congressman Graham was just the tip of the iceberg.” Without changing expression, Todd slowly moved the phone to his other ear and looked impassively at Téa.

“I’ll have to call you back,” he said in a bored tone, hoping he had successfully hidden his feeling of triumph from his ex-wife.

“But Boss,” said the caller, clearly exasperated. “You’ve been on me for weeks to dig up something on him, and now you don’t want to….”

“I said I’ll call you back,” said Todd forcefully, pushing the disconnect button and throwing the phone on the desk with disgust. He glanced at Téa over his shoulder, searching for any signs that she had detected anything out of the ordinary about the call.

“I should let you get back to work,” she said, moving forward to close her briefcase.

“You don’t have to run off, Téa,” said Todd. “I could show you around if you want.”

Téa smiled. “I’d like that,” she said just as the cell phone rang again. Losing his temper, Todd grabbed the phone.

“Look, you idiot, I told you I’d call you back!” he shouted. His face went from angry, to confused, to apologetic. “Doyle?” he said sheepishly. “Uh, I thought you were someone else. What do you want?” He rolled his eyes at Téa, indicating he would wrap up the call quickly. He looked surprised. “Do I want to go running in the morning? You mean, just for the hell of it, without you cops chasing me and shooting at me?” Téa smiled as she saw he was clearly pleased by the invitation. “Fun and exercise, huh? Well, I don’t usually do fun. No, I’m not afraid of a little competition.” Giving Téa a meaningful look he said, “Is that so? Well, maybe you’d like to put your meager cop salary where your mouth is, Doyle. We do five miles and the last one to finish buys breakfast.” Walking over to the window, he continued, “OK, I’ll meet you there. And make sure you bring plenty of money, because I intend to make you pay for all that jail slop you forced me to eat for four months.” He disconnected the phone without saying goodbye, and walked back to Téa. “Sorry about all the interruptions,” he muttered, gesturing at a small over-stuffed sofa. “I wanted to talk to you about something.” Téa shrugged and seated herself, crossing her legs. As he sat on the other end of the sofa, she noticed Todd glancing appreciatively at her legs. “How’s the street lawyering going?”

“Not great,” she said, discouraged. “I’ve got a few clients I’m helping with insurance claims or benefits, but so far no one will trust me to defend them in a criminal case. I guess they still think of me as the enemy.”

“They’ll come around,” said Todd. “You’re good. Sooner or later, some jerk is going to need the best to beat the rap, and he’d be a fool not to hire you.” Todd looked away and took a deep breath. Nonchalantly, he asked, “So, are you and Syko still an item?”

Téa’s dark eyes snapped. “I wish you’d quit calling him that,” she said defensively, “and I don’t see that it’s any of your business.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Téa,” said Todd forcefully. “That guy is one sick bastard, and I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

“You don’t get to say who I can or can’t see!” said Téa, losing her temper. “You lost that right when you lied to me and ran out on our wedding night!”

“You’re still out to make me suffer for that, aren’t you?” shouted Todd. “But Téa, you’re the one who’s going to pay the price when Johnny-boy tries to get to me by hurting you!”

“You arrogant….” Téa leapt to her feet, grabbing for her briefcase. “Everything is about you! No one could ever be attracted to me for any reason other than sticking it to you, is that it?”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Todd, raking his fingers through his hair in exasperation. He looked with longing at his ex-wife, resolving to wait until he had concrete proof of the detective’s rotten core before he approached the subject again.

Téa was about to respond when Heidi Chalmers stuck her head in the door. “Todd, are you finished with your lawyer?” she asked, looking at Téa with disdain. “Because I really need your undivided attention if you want me to get the layout for the title page done by the weekend.”

“Get out!” shouted Todd, losing it. “I told you I’d…”

“You’re busy,” interrupted Téa, grabbing her briefcase angrily, “and we’re finished here, anyway.” She marched purposefully for the door. “I’ll expect to hear something from Blair’s attorney about those papers.” Heidi pushed past her and moved to Todd’s side, ignoring the obvious anger she had provoked.

“Delgado, don’t go,” said Todd, trying to calm himself. “We need to talk.” Téa turned around and faced him.

“The subject is closed,” she said. Heidi snorted and moved closer to Todd, pushing up against him until her breast was brushing his upper arm. She stared at Téa defiantly, her lip curling up in a sneer. It took everything Téa had to ignore the wave of jealousy she felt toward the woman. She turned on her heel and left the office, leaving her ex-husband staring after her wistfully.

The leggy blonde reached out and tentatively smoothed a strand of Todd’s hair behind an ear. He flinched away and put a few feet of distance between them. “That’s the Téa who is your ex-wife, isn’t it?” she asked in a breathy voice.

“Yeah. What do you care, anyway?” he snarled.

“It’s just that I detected a little…tension. I think you need relaxation, and I’d like to help,” purred Heidi. Todd was about to tell her to get lost, but something made him hesitate.

“Yeah?” he said, inspecting her closely from her head to her toes. There was no denying she was a beautiful woman, and it seemed like she was coming on to him.

“You work too much,” she murmured seductively. “Why don’t you let me buy you dinner? There’s a great little French restaurant over on third. We could have a little wine, some good food, and who knows what else the evening may bring?” Todd already had his mouth open to refuse when he remembered the fire flashing in Téa’s eyes when she had told him to butt out. As much as he wanted her and longed for another chance, he was forced to admit that the odds of Téa ever letting him back into her life were slim to none. Meanwhile, Heidi was right in front of him, making it clear she was attracted. Since Téa had washed her hands of him, where was the harm in spending a little time with a beautiful woman?

“Maybe some other time,” said Todd, eyeing the deep crease visible below the neckline of Heidi’s sweater. “My kid gets home tonight.”

“How about tomorrow, then?” said Heidi, clearly not about to take no for an answer. Todd hesitated a moment, wondering if he was really ready to try and live his life without Téa.

“Yeah, sure,” he blurted. “Whatever. Now get out. I need to return an important phone call.”

Heidi pouted. “But this layout,” she whined, leaning over so Todd could get a better look at her cleavage.

“It’ll wait a few minutes,” he said, gesturing toward the door. Heidi strolled to the door, glancing over her shoulder to reassure herself that Todd was looking at her bottom. She winked as she slipped through the portal. Todd shook his head to clear it as he picked up the cell phone and punched the autodial. “This, however,” he murmured, “is a matter of life and death.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A few blocks away, Téa walked listlessly down the main shopping boulevard in Llanview, staring into the store windows with little interest in the colorful displays of fall clothing. Usually a clotheshorse, she couldn’t even muster up enough enthusiasm about any of the offerings to actually walk in a store. She was annoyed with herself for letting Heidi get to her. Just the thought of the blonde bimbo made her blood boil all over again.

Téa knew the type all too well. Heidi didn’t actually care about Todd. She was attracted by his looks and enticed by his millions enough to overlook his violent past and current demons, but she couldn’t care less about what he had overcome to get where he was today. It was Blair all over again.

But what bothered Téa the most was that Todd actually seemed to be interested in the shallow witch. Téa knew she should be glad that Todd was finally starting to move on, but she was not prepared for how much it hurt her to realize he didn’t need her any more. He had his new business up and running; Starr would soon be in his life again; he even had a new friend in the unlikely person of the man who had been in charge of keeping him imprisoned a few short weeks before. But most painful of all was the unmistakable lust she had seen in his eyes as he leered at the magazine stylist. Téa bit her lip, blinking back tears. Todd had made it clear he didn’t want her anymore. His only interest seemed to be in using her as a pawn in his vendetta against John Sykes. “What did you expect, Téa?” she asked herself. “Todd has asked repeatedly for a second chance with you since his return, and you’ve thrown every request back in his teeth. Even a man as obsessive as Todd Manning loses interest after awhile.”

Téa sighed as she thought about the tall detective. She knew many of the secretaries in the DA’s office had found John Sykes’ appearance rather creepy, but she did not. To her, he had a kind of classic beauty, in spite of his thinning hair. His body was lean and powerful, and Téa had to admit she was attracted to him physically. Before Todd had arrived back in Llanview, she had been planning to seduce John. But as usual, the presence of her ex-husband had confused the hell out of her. Then there was the complication of the obvious blind hatred between John and Todd. Téa sensed that there was a lot more to it than simple jealousy over her affections.

John had been very sweet to her since their quarrels around the time of Todd’s release. He had showered her with little gifts and flowers, apologizing for his boorish behavior. Finally she had agreed to have dinner with him the following night, knowing that he had high hopes for the evening. He had thrown himself into a frenzy of preparation, securing reservations at a small, out of the way restaurant. Obviously, he was hoping that this might be the night that Téa would be ready to move on and finally cap their long relationship by allowing him to make love to her. Staring at her reflection in a large picture window, Téa took a moment to sort out how she felt about sleeping with John.

“Why not?” Téa asked herself. “He’s good-looking and he obviously has feelings for me beyond mere lust. He hates Todd, but who can blame him? He’s a good man who upholds the law at all costs. Todd was bound to infuriate him with his contemptuous attitude and lengthy police record.” Téa stopped her strolling abruptly and retraced a few of her steps. Something had finally drawn her attention in the window of a small, exclusive boutique. It was an elegant little black cocktail dress by one of her favorite designers, and Téa knew it would flatter her figure becomingly. It was perfect for her upcoming date with John. Of course, with the plunging neckline, spaghetti straps and dangerously short hemline, it definitely sent a message. One look at her in that dress and John would definitely be expecting their relationship to move to the next level. Taking a deep breath, Téa realized that that thought didn’t bother her so much any more.

She had always had strong sexual needs, and two years of celibate marriage to Todd had taken a toll on her. One night of guilt-ridden sex with Andrew Carpenter was not enough to satisfy Téa Delgado. Todd appeared to be ready to start a new relationship, so why shouldn’t she? With grim determination, Téa pulled the door open and slowly walked into the shop.

TO BE CONTINUED

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