STOLEN CHANCES - PART FOURTEEN

PREVIOUSLY

Tea wipes a tear from her cheek as she looks at Michelle.

"You're looking at her," she says in a whisper, her words hanging lethally in air. What they had seen that day was just the beginning. They needed to brace themselves for the wrath of Hurricane Blair.

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"Okay, Blair. I know you didn't buy me lunch for nothing. What do you want?"

Blair ducks her head sheepishly, trying to avoid the probing gaze of her lunch date, Kevin Buchanan.

"Kevin, I have no idea what you're talking about. Can't I have a simple lunch meeting with my cousin's husband?" she asks him, attempting to flirt with him to get her way.

"Under normal circumstances . . . yes. But you're not exactly normal, Blair. And I know that you want something. And it's something that you couldn't get from Cassie, so you came to me." Kevin stares across the table at Blair, still trying to figure out her intentions.

"Alright, Kevin. I'll admit it. I do want something from you. But let me start by saying that I'm doing this all for my little girl. I refuse to let her father destroy her future."

Kevin raised his eyebrow slightly. The very idea of Todd Manning stirred up something in the depths of him that he couldn't ignore. And no matter how many times his mother asked, he couldn't repress it. Todd Manning brought out the inner monster in Kevin that he normally could contain. Kevin made it his duty to make sure Todd never hurt his loved ones again. And if he had to fight dirty to ensure that, then he could live with that.

"I see that got your attention," Blair said, looking satisfied that she successfully baited Kevin into her trap. "And believe me, Todd needs to be stopped before it's too late."

"What's going on Blair? What's Todd up to now?"

"Well, it's not exactly Todd right now. Someone from his past has come back, and I don't like her hanging around. She's a threat to my daughter."

"Another woman? Does Tea know?"

"I don't really know what she is. She could be his girlfriend. That's where I need your help. I know you did some research on Todd's past when he was in the hospital last year. I need to know what you dug up on someone named Michelle Westlake."

"Not much. All I found out was that they used to hang out. Then she disappeared when she was about 14. What made you ask about her?" Kevin asks curiously.

"She's the ghost from his past. And I got to tell you Kevin, I don't think I like it very much. She seems to be getting very familiar with Starr, and I don't like that one bit." Blair puts on her best pouty face, hoping to persuade Kevin to help her.

"Okay. Okay. You win. I'll tell you what I can remember. From what my sources tell me, Todd and Michelle were pretty much inseparable when they were kids. Both were kind of shy and quiet around other people, so they clung to each other. Until she vanished one day."

"Where did she go?" Blair asks, interrupting Kevin's tale.

"It took some doing, but I tracked her to a small boarding school in England. Nothing big happened there. And she only stayed a few years. Went back to Chicago for her senior year in high school and ended up graduating with honors. The teachers at the high school say that her and Todd were always together, which surprised them since he was a trouble maker. They didn't think she'd hang out with a person like Todd.

This is where things get kind of strange. After high school, both Todd and Michelle apply and get accepted to Llanview University. Only, Todd shows up alone. Michelle had disappeared again. My sources couldn't track her after that. The closest they could get me was this name." Kevin reaches into his wallet and flips through a few things and stops when he finds what he's looking for. He slides a small slip of paper with a name scribbled on it across the table to Blair.

"Roscoe Wallace. Who's he?" Blair asks irritatingly, though thoroughly impressed with Kevin's investigative skills.

"I don't know. I didn't follow that lead. Cassie and my mother started hassling me about the story, so I gave up on it. Do with it what you please. But just make sure Todd suffers. He deserves it," Kevin says with a smug smile and a wink before getting up and leaving.

Blair stays to the table for a few more minutes, tapping her finger on the piece of paper. This was the break she was looking for, she could feel it. Michelle's past was too mysterious. There's got to be something she's hiding. Something Blair could dig up and use against her. And for some reason, she had a feeling that Roscoe was just the person to help her.

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Days and days of research and consulting with a variety of private investigators and Blair finally hit paydirt. She tracked down Roscoe Wallace and persuaded him to come to Llanview. There was someone she feared would harm her daughter, and she needed him to identify the woman, she explained to the man on the phone. But it was the offer of a reward for any information that convinced him to meet with her.

Blair sits at the bar in Rodi's, waiting on the mystery man to arrive. She looks down at her watch and when she looks up again, she startled to suddenly see him standing right in front of her.

"You must be Blair," he says, staring intensely at her. Blair is still a little shocked at the man's sudden appearance and is a bit disturbed at the way he's looking at her. But she recovers quickly and invites him over to a booth so they can talk privately.

"I know you're wondering why I called, Mr. Wallace . . . " Blair begins.

"Roscoe. You can call me Roscoe."

"Okay, Roscoe," she says slowly, still feeling nervous. "I don't want to waste your time, so I'll get right to the point. Do you know a woman named Michelle Westlake?"

"Yeah, I know her. What about her?" he asks.

"She's been hanging around my ex-husband and my daughter a lot lately. I just wanted to know a little more about her."

"Well, if you tracked me down, you must be doing some serious research on Michelle. I just don't see where I fit into this picture."

"Roscoe, are you aware that Michelle has a child?"

"Yeah, Ryan. What does he have to do with any of this?"

"She's trying to pass him off as my ex-husband's child. I'm convinced she's only doing it to get his money. Money that my daughter will inherit one day. I'm just worried that this woman is taking my poor Todd for a ride. . ." Blair trails off, sqeezing out a few tears to make the man sympathize with her. He stares at her for awhile, seemingly falling for her charade.

"You know, Lady. You're pretty good. I almost bought your little act," he says to a shocked Blair. "I can smell a con a mile away. First of all, Michelle is loaded, so she wouldn't care about this man's money. Second of all, I've done a little checking up on you, Miss Cramer. And I have a feeling that this has little to do with your daughter. Let me see if I got this right. Your daughter stands to inherit millions from her father. Which means you'll stand to inherit millions. Am I right so far?", he says, looking across the table at her, as if he could read her mind. Blair looks away to avoid eye contact.

"I think I am," he continues. "So, with Michelle and her son in the picture, your little girl's inheritance gets split and you don't really seem like the sharing type to me. My guess is that you want me here to start a little trouble and get Michelle back out of the picture. Well, today is your lucky day. Trouble is my middle name," he says with a grin. Blair gets a horrified look on her face.

"I don't know what you're hinting at, but I think I'm offended," Blair claims. She takes a few sips of her drink while she let's Roscoe's words sink in. After a few minutes, she speaks again. "What did you mean by 'getting Michelle out of the picture'? You wouldn't . . . [kill] her or anything. . . would you?" As soon as the words came out, Blair couldn't believe she had said them. But what shocked her the most was that she meant them.

"Kill her? No. Nothing like that. But, my methods aren't exactly sanctioned by the law, either. The bottom line is, Michelle would be out of your life for good," Roscoe promises a suddenly eager Blair.

"How do you plan to do that?" Blair asks curiously.

"Let's just say that wherever that kid goes, she'll go. We just have to get that kid far away from here."

"No, Todd will kill you first before letting you take away his child. That won't work," Blair says to him, disappointed in Plan A.

"I'll handle all of that, Blair. Don't you worry your pretty little head. You just make sure my efforts are well compensated for," he says, holding out his hand.

Blair looks around discretely to see if anyone is looking before pulling out a check from her pocket. "This is half of what I promised. But, I need to see if you can deliver before you get the rest." She hands the check over to him, with few reservations about what she's about to do.

"That's a nice start," Roscoe says with a slight smile at the amount on the check. "I just need one last thing from you. I need a proper introduction to Llanview. It'll be too strange for me to all of a sudden show up here just before things start to happen. I need a cover story."

"Well, Todd's sister is having a little welcome party for Michelle tomorrow night. Why don't you come as my date," Blair offers.

"Perfect."

"So I'll see you tomorrow around 9:00," Blair says, standing to her feet. "I'm leaving now. Do you want to walk out with me?"

"No, I think I'll stay here and have another drink. See you tomorrow." He watches and waits until she leaves before taking out a cell phone, dialing a number.

"It's me. . . . no, she just left . . . Things went just as I planned, even better. The lovely Miss Cramer practically handed Michelle to me on a silver platter. But the plan has changed a little . . there's another player in the game . . . . I'll tell you all about it later. Let's just say that when this is all over, we'll be very, very rich."

TO BE CONTINUED