PURGATORY - PART FOUR

PURGATORY - PART FOUR

PREVIOUSLY

“No. Stay the hell away from her,” he spat. He waited impatiently while the policemen opened the door, then stomped through it purposefully without any prompting. Téa looked after him, wondering why she felt so sad when this was supposed to be her triumphant moment. She jumped as she felt Sykes’ hand on her shoulder.

“You did the right thing, Téa,” he said softly.

“I don’t know, John. I just don’t know,” she answered as they followed Todd and his keepers out the door.

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Téa had followed Todd through the whole booking procedure, watching in fascination as he was fingerprinted, mug shots were taken, and he was stripped of his belt and personal possessions. She had been surprised to see that he still wore his wedding band before he was forced to remove it. His guards escorted him to a desk in the squad room, where John Sykes was updating Commissioner Bo Buchanan on the situation. Bo smirked as he assessed the man he had been trying to nail for the better part of a decade.

“Well, Manning,” he said with a cold smile. “You’ve been through this enough to know the ropes. You get one phone call to your lawyer.” He pulled out the desk chair and gestured to the guards, who obliged their boss by shoving Todd roughly into the seat. He stared at the phone on the desk.

“I….I don’t have a lawyer,” he said slowly.

“Oh? What about Mr. High and Mighty Sam Rappaport?” asked Bo sarcastically. “You and he deserve each other,” he sneered.

“We didn’t part on the best of terms,” said Todd, glaring at the commissioner. “I don’t think he’d be exactly thrilled to hear from me.”

“Well that’s your problem, not mine.” Bo reached over to another desk and grabbed a three ring binder, throwing it in front of Todd. “Here. There are some business cards of other lawyers in there, or you can wait around for one of the public defenders-I don’t care what you do.” Todd flipped through the pages, looking blankly at the names that meant nothing to him. Looking at his guards, Bo, Sykes and Téa staring expectantly at him, he picked up the receiver and held it to his ear. “It doesn’t matter, anyway,” he thought. “Just pick one randomly and be done with it.” He quickly dialed a number and listened to the phone ringing as he held his breath.

“Sam Rappaport,” said a crisp voice on the other end.

“Sam? It’s….it’s me….Todd,” he said quietly. Téa was surprised as she realized he had called his former football coach after all.

“Todd?” asked Sam in disbelief. “Where are you?” The attorney was settled into his expensive sofa at his comfortable house. His son, Will, raised his head from the chessboard in curiosity at his father’s frantic tone.

“I’m here, in Llanview,” said Todd in an even voice, “and…and I’m under arrest.”

Sam snorted. “Of course. You don’t even let me know where you are for five months, but I’m expected to run over and save your ass whenever you find yourself in trouble. Not this time, Pal.”

“Is it Todd, Dad?” whispered Will as his father nodded.

“Coach,” said Todd, deliberately using the nickname from his childhood, “I know you’re probably not happy to hear from me, but I don’t have anyone else I can call.” Téa found herself inexplicably pulling for Todd to convince his one-time father figure to represent him. It didn’t make sense, given that Sam was perfectly capable of coming up with a defense that would allow Todd to beat the rap, but somehow the image of a Todd Manning without a friend in the world was deeply disturbing to her.

On the other end, Sam was wavering. “What’s the charge?” he asked. “Perjury?” he repeated when he had the answer. “You mean lying? How appropriate.” He caught Will’s eyes upon him as he waited to resume their game. “I’m sorry, Pal. I can’t do it anymore. I had a belly full of your shenanigans during the kidnapping trial last year. Get someone else.”

In the squad room, Todd did his best to hide his disappointment from his captors. “Look, Sam, I don’t blame you for saying that, but I have a preliminary hearing tomorrow and I really need you.”

Sam felt a familiar tug at his heart as his surrogate son asked for his help, but looking at Will’s face, he hardened his heart. He and his real son were just getting their trust back after some really tough times. Sam felt guilty that Will had managed to get Jessica Buchanan pregnant while his father had been distracted worrying about Todd’s defense in the kidnapping trial-a defense that had turned out to be completely bogus. “The answer is no, Todd,” he said forcefully. He was about to hang up the phone when Will signaled him to wait. He covered the mouthpiece of the phone so Todd couldn’t hear.

“Are you really going to abandon Todd because he lied, Dad?” said Will in a stern voice. “You aren’t exactly blameless in that department, are you?” Sam felt his heart sink.

“Will…I explained all that to you. I had my reasons.”

“Maybe Todd had his reasons, too, Dad. Like not wanting to spend the rest of his life in jail.”

“I just got you back in my life, Will, and I won’t let Todd interfere in our relationship any more. You always got the short end of the stick when I had to get him out of his various scrapes.”

“I don’t mind, Dad. I had a great childhood with you and Mom. I never felt abandoned. Todd didn’t have that, so I don’t mind sharing you once in a while.”

At the police station, Todd waited impatiently as he listened to the garbled sound of Sam talking to his son. He knew his future relationship with his old friend was on the line. Finally, he heard Sam’s voice on the other end.

“Todd? I’ll get you through the preliminary hearing tomorrow, but then you have to get another attorney, OK?”

“If that’s all you’re willing to do, then I guess I have to take it,” said Todd ungraciously. Secretly, he was all but prostrate with relief.

“I’ll be down in about an hour to see you,” said Sam as he rang off.

Todd hung up the receiver and glared at the circle of faces staring at him. His eyes locked with Bo’s and narrowed in hostility. “I don’t suppose you could ease up on the one phone call rule long enough for me to call and check on my daughter? You know, the one your goons traumatized for life tonight?”

Bo looked momentarily guilty as he said, “Make it quick, Manning.” As Todd dialed in the number, the commissioner requested a word in private with Detective Sykes and ADA Delgado. They moved to a side corridor, leaving Todd under the watchful gaze of his guards. Bo eyed the couple with disappointment. “What in the hell were you two thinking?” he asked angrily.

Téa looked stricken. “We had a warrant, Bo,” she said weakly.

“I’m not talking about that, Téa. Manning belongs behind bars, no doubt about it. But what were you two doing participating in the arrest? You’re both too emotionally involved and you should have handed the case off to someone else.”

“We needed to move fast, Bo, before he got away,” said Sykes defensively.

“Is that why you let your men break into a little girl’s room with their weapons out, John?”

Téa and Sykes put their heads down in embarrassment. “The men got a little excited,” mumbled the detective.

“Maybe because someone got them excited, Detective. Someone who has a reason to hate Todd Manning.” Bo looked back and forth between the chastened pair. “You’re lucky no one got hurt tonight, folks. But from now on, both of you are off the case. Téa, you give this over to Hank. You’re likely to be a witness and Todd’s defense attorneys would be all over you if you attempted to try it yourself. The same goes for you, John. I don’t want to see you anywhere near Manning after tonight. Frobisher gets the case.”

“But Bo,” began Sykes.

“Don’t fight me on this, John. You’re on thin ice as it is.” The tall detective looked miserable as they headed back toward Todd, who was just hanging up the phone.

“How was Starr?” asked Téa, not trying to hide her concern. Todd looked coldly at her.

“She’s asleep, but Blair had to let her sleep in her bed. It’s going to be a long time before she feels safe in her room again,” he said in an accusatory tone.

“We’re all glad your little girl wasn’t hurt, Manning, and you have my apologies for the way that was handled. But now I think you know what happens next.” Todd continued to glare at the commissioner as he climbed slowly to his feet.

“Oh yeah, Bo. I’m an expert at this,” he spat. He moved over toward the two uniformed cops, and seeing one pull out the handcuffs, he turned his back and held his hands behind him. As the cuffs were snapped on his wrists, he watched Téa closely, then lowered his gaze to the floor. A shove propelled him a few steps toward the door, then he stopped and turned around. “Wait,” he told his guards with an authority he didn’t feel. To his surprise, they hesitated uncertainly at his side. “We have to talk,” he said to Téa in a low voice.

She crossed her arms and jutted her chin up defiantly. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Todd,” she said with hostility.

“Well, maybe I have something to say to you, Delgado. You know where to find me when you’re ready to hear it.” With that, he turned on his heel and marched deliberately for the door, feeling depressed that he knew the way to the jail by heart.

Téa stared after him, blinking back angry tears and wondering why she always let Todd get to her. Across the room, John Sykes smiled encouragement at her. Slowly, she sank into a desk chair and pulled the case file toward her. Checking to be sure that no one was watching, she reached out a tentative finger and traced Todd’s features on the new mug shot.

TO BE CONTINUED