PREVIOUSLY

Crumpling the note and envelope into a ball, Todd threw it between the bars and watched as it bounced off the cement wall. Placing his forearm across his knees, he put his head down and wept bitter tears.

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Todd followed his guard through the squad room, holding his eyes on the floor so he didn’t have to see the satisfied grins on the faces of the cops as he was led to the conference room in handcuffs. Suddenly, he was almost lifted off his feet by a hand at his throat. His head swam and he struggled for breath as he was shoved up against a wall. “You dog, Manning,” growled Asa Buchanan. “No one double crosses me, you got that? No one!” Todd glared at him defiantly, although he couldn’t choke out even a single syllable with the old man squeezing the air out of him.

“Pa! Let him go!” ordered Bo in a tone that allowed for no argument, even from his own father. Asa took his sweet time before obeying, finally releasing Todd just as his knees started to buckle. Todd sputtered and coughed, bringing up his manacled hands to rub his bruised neck.

“Nice try, old man,” he growled in a choked voice, “but it’s a done deal. The Sun is mine again.” Recovering a bit, he drew himself up to his full height. A cold satisfaction glinted in his hazel eyes. “Now if I could just get the stink of your cigars out of my office as easily as I got rid of you.” Asa lunged for him again, but this time Bo and the cops were ready for him and held him back easily. He shrugged them off, straightening his clothing.

Asa eyed Todd coldly, looking him up and down contemptuously. “Nice bracelets, Manning.” Todd’s smirk faded slightly. “At least your cute little girl will be safe with you locked up.” This time it was Todd who had to be restrained as he angrily pushed toward the old man. With a satisfied grin, Asa turned away. “Too bad your barber didn’t manage to cut off your head along with your hair. You’ll be hearing from me, Manning.” As he stood staring after the monumental head of the Buchanan clan, Todd became aware of a slight figure sniveling quietly at his side.

“Kelly?” he asked, hardly recognizing the girl in a hot pink skintight pantsuit trimmed in marabou feathers.

“How could you do it, Todd?” she wailed. “How could you take the Sun away from me after I’ve worked so hard?” He wrinkled up his nose as he realized she was sporting a tongue ring.

“Kelly,” he said in exasperation, “You almost ran it into the ground! Have you seen the circulation figures? People don’t want stories about Mother Teresa types running homeless shelters. They want scandal.”

“But I thought I could make a difference.” She wiped at her eyes with a leopard print scarf. Todd couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her.

“Look, it wasn’t all bad. Why don’t you hang around and edit the chick stuff-you know fashion and flowers and all that crap?”

“Don’t patronize me!” she shouted, suddenly looking anything but vulnerable. “I will get the Sun back, you can count on it!” She looked at his handcuffs with contempt. “All I have to do is wait until you’re sent to prison. Once Blair is in charge, it won’t take me a moment to screw her again.”

Todd grinned coldly. “Bad news, Kel. Blair is just a reporter again. I’ve got a new manager coming in to run the Sun, Eric San Martín. I don’t think you’ll be able to run over him quite as easily as you did Blair, especially dressed like that.” He looked her up and down, leering at her in an insulting manner.

She turned on her heel, leaving a wake of feathers floating behind her. “Enjoy jail, Todd,” she threw over her shoulder. “Just don’t bend over in the shower.” Todd stared after her wide-eyed, wondering if the famous Cramer craziness had finally taken its toll on Kelly.

“C’mon, Manning,” prompted his guard, pulling on his elbow. They entered a small, dimly lit conference room, and Todd was released from the handcuffs. He paced around the room for a while when he was left alone, rubbing at his neck and wrists. He was glad that he had finally wrestled the Sun away from Asa and Kelly, but he worried that the new manager he had hired wouldn’t be strong enough to deal with any challenges from that quarter while his boss was locked up. He was staring in distraction at the back wall when the door opened behind him.

“Daddy? Is that you?” Todd whipped around and caught Starr up in his arms as she ran toward him. The guard let Blair pass, then closed the door, leaving them alone. Starr clung on to her father and whimpered. Todd looked at Blair, a question in his eyes.

“She wouldn’t rest until she saw you were all right, Todd,” said Blair quietly. “She’s been frantic that the police would hurt you.” Todd felt tears prick at his eyes as he squeezed the little girl tightly.

“Hey, Shorty, it’s all right. I’m fine, except for missing you.” He set her down and lifted her chin so she could look in his eyes. She clutched her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Rabbit, tightly to her chest.

“But you’re in jail, Daddy. Mommy said so!” Todd met Blair’s eyes over the head of their child. He hugged her again.

Taking a deep breath he said, “Yes, I’m in jail, Starr.” He closed his eyes tightly as he continued, “I’m sorry that I’m not a very good Daddy.”

“That’s not true! You are good, I know it! You just did some bad stuff and you’re being punished.” She pulled away and patted his face. “Aunt Dorian said you told a big lie.” Todd grimaced at the mention of one of his least favorite people in the world. “Are you going to have to be in jail a long time, Daddy?” asked Starr.

“I don’t know yet. I hope not,” he said in an even tone. “I’m going to miss you, Kiddo, but I’ll be thinking about you, OK?” Starr looked down at the stuffed rabbit in her arms.

“Here,” she said handing it to her father. “Now you have someone to talk to in jail, just like I talk to Fred the Magic Frog. Mr. Rabbit will send me your messages, Daddy.” Todd practically choked as he fought back tears.

“I can’t take Mr. Rabbit, Starr. He’s your best buddy.”

“I have lots of other friends, but you really need Mr. Rabbit,” said the little girl. Todd stood clutching the toy as the guard opened the door so Blair and Starr could leave. “Bye, Daddy, I love you,” said Starr simply.

“I love you, too, Shorty, and I promise I’ll take good care of Mr. Rabbit.” As soon as the door closed behind them, Todd turned around and crushed the little stuffed toy to his chest. A desperate whimper escaped his lips as he shook with emotion.

When Téa came through the door a few minutes later, she found Todd sitting on the conference table with his feet dangling in front of him. He was rhythmically petting the little stuffed animal and for a moment Téa feared for his sanity. “Todd? Are you all right?” She moved a little closer. “Isn’t that Mr. Rabbit? Starr will be so upset when she misses him! Here,” she said, reaching for the toy. “Give him to me and I’ll run him by the penthouse on my lunch break.”

“Starr gave him to me, Téa,” said Todd quietly. “She didn’t want me to be lonely in jail.” His voice broke and he turned away so she couldn’t see his face. Téa felt unwanted tears begin to fill up her eyes. She looked at the paper in her hands and decided it could wait for another time. “What do you want?” snapped Todd as she moved toward the door. He noticed her hesitation. “It’s the annulment, isn’t it?”

Téa turned around, taking a deep breath to hide her emotional distress. “Yes.” Todd held out his hand for the paper, steadying himself as he looked it over.

“So that’s it, then? There sure is a lot less fanfare for the ending of a marriage than for the beginning, isn’t there?”

“Yeah. Are you going to be all right?” she asked, worried about him in spite of a vow not to care any more.

“Sure, Delgado. You may not have noticed, but I have a lot more things to worry about other than losing you at the moment.” He tried to make his voice sound hard.

Téa tried not to feel hurt. “I’ll leave you now,” she said with her face toward the door. Looking over her shoulder she asked, “Did you get the newspapers and magazines I sent down?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“I met your new lawyer outside. He’s waiting to see you.” Todd took a deep breath.

“Oh goody.” Before Téa could knock for the guard, the door was opened and Sam Rappaport strolled into the room with an air of authority. Both Téa and Todd stared at him stupidly as he glanced back and forth between them.

“I don’t like you in here questioning my client without his legal counsel present, Téa.”

“I…I wasn’t questioning him, Sam. We were discussing something…personal. But I thought Joe Franklin was his lawyer now?” Sam looked embarrassed.

“Uh, well he was. I sent him away with a promise to throw some other work his way.” Facing Todd, he said, “I’ve changed my mind, Pal. I’d like to represent you, if you still want me.”

Todd successfully hid the joy he felt in his heart. “What changed your mind?” he asked in a matter of fact tone.

“Well, my son Will gave me a long, rather eye-opening lecture about trust and forgiveness, and let’s just say he made some very direct points. I’m sorry about the holier than thou act the other night, Todd. I’m certainly not one to be throwing any stones about honesty these days. Do you still want to hire me?”

“Depends. Can you get me off?”

Sam’s blue eyes twinkled. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best.” He became suddenly serious. “Just so we have this straight, Pal. From now on, it’s strictly the truth between us, OK?”

“You got it, Coach. And thanks for giving me another chance.”

“We all need another chance sometime or other, Pal,” said Sam, opening his briefcase.

Téa couldn’t help feeling happy that Sam was back in Todd’s corner. “Well, gentlemen, I’ll leave you to discuss the case.” As the guard opened the door for her, she turned back toward the man who had been her husband until an hour before. “Take care of yourself, Todd,” she said in a soft voice as she exited the room.

Todd glanced down at the order officially ending his marriage. “Bye, Delgado,” he whispered. “See you around.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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