STOLEN CHANCES - PART EIGHTEEN

PREVIOUSLY

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Michelle. I'm getting my money, one way or the other. I tried to do things the easy way, but you've pushed me too far. Things are about to get hard now," he says, banging her head against the door over and over. Finally, the darkness overtook Michelle, and the last thing she saw was the world around her spinning just before she felt her limp body fall to the floor.

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Todd finishes the last of his drink and walks towards the door. His mind was still cloudy about the nights events. But he heard the same words over and over, echoing through his mind. He's not my son. Ryan's not mine. What a cruel and hateful trick Michelle had played on him. That wasn't like her. Not like her at all. Todd pushes those thoughts out of his head as he reaches his car and opens the door. He tries to start the ignition, but a little voice in his head won't quit.

"What am I doing?" Todd thinks to himself. "Michelle and I have been through too much for me to have treated her like I did. I should at least give her the chance to explain." With that thought, he heads back up to Michelle's hotel room to settle things with her.

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Roscoe sneaks back into the party just as Blair walks up on him.

"Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you?" she inquires.

"Just walking around and checking the place out. You couldn't have been looking too hard for me. That gentleman over there seemed to have your attention most of the night."

"Well, whatever. I'm ready to go now, so let's get out of here," she says with her hand on her hip.

"Where's your daughter? Isn't she coming too?"

"No, she's already asleep upstairs with her wicked stepmother. I asked Viki if she could stay here for the night. I'd hate to wake her up."

"I'm actually having a pretty good time. Do you want to stay a little longer?" Roscoe asks her, hoping she'll say no.

"You want to stay? You don't know anybody here. What do you want to stay for? Nevermind. I don't want to know. If I hurry, I might be able to catch a ride home with my cousin Kelly. Thanks for a nice evening, Roscoe," she says, leaning closer to whisper something into his ear. "And good luck with whatever you're going to do to get Michelle out of my life."

She leaves and Roscoe starts looking around again, eyeing the crowd, searching for a chance to make a break for upstairs to look around. When he's sure nobody's paying attention, he sneaks into the kitchen and walks up the back stairs. He peeks into every door until he finds what he's looking for. He slowly creeps into the room, quietly closing the door behind him and waits for a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The soft snores of Tea lead him over to the bed they're all in. He stands there for a moment, smiling and mentally counting dollar signs in his head.

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"Michelle. Come on, Michelle, open up. It's me, Todd. I just came to . . ." He stops midsentence when he discovers the door is unlocked. He slowly opens it and walks into the room. He doesn't get far when terror grabs his heart. All the blood drains from his face when he spys a lifeless Michelle sprawled across the floor, lying in a pool of blood.

"Michelle!" he screams. "Michelle, honey, answer me. Can you hear me?" He reaches for her neck and feels a slight pulse. When he sees that she is barely breathing, he runs to the phone and calls for an ambulance. He shouldn't have left her alone, he thinks. This is all his fault. Yet another example of what can go wrong when he allows his anger to get the better of him. He waits patiently for the ambulance while silently praying for Michelle, swearing to himself to find the person that did this and make them pay.

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"Oh Mrs. Manning. Wake up Mrs. Manning. Time to rise and shine." Roscoe nudges Tea until she starts to stir in her sleep. She rolls over and sees his big eyes staring at her. She starts to scream, but finds her mouth tied with a gag. She looks around the room and starts to panic when she can't see the kids.

"Don't even bother to scream. The party's still going on downstairs. No one would even hear you. What's the matter? You look scared. Don't be. Your husband has something that I want. And the only way I see to get it, is by taking something that he wants."

Roscoe walks over to the bed where Tea is still laying and scoops her up. She struggles against him, but it's no use. Her hands and feet are bound with duct tape and she can't move. She is helpless and scared and can't think of anything else to do. She just wonders where the kids are.

That question is answered when they reach the car Roscoe has hidden by the kitchen door of Llanfair. He shoves her inside and she sees the other passengers. Ryan and Starr are huddled together on the back seat, crying and attempting to comfort each other. The sight made Tea want to cry herself, but she knew that she couldn't. She had to be strong against the kidnapper. She had to be a comfort to the kids. They rush to her, both hugging her for dear life as the car pulls off for parts unknown.

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Michelle slowly opens her eyes and looks around the room to see where she is. She sees a blurry image of Todd staring at her from a chair next to her bed.

"Hey, you're finally awake. It's about time. Don't move. I'm going to go get the doctor," Todd says as he runs out the door. He returns a second later with a doctor in tow.

"Miss Westlake. It's good to see that you've regained consciousness. You had us pretty worried," the doctor says to her with a smile.

"What happened? What am I doing here? I remember being at the party and then . . ." She stops midsentence, suddenly remembering the start of the worst night of her life. "Roscoe. He was there. At the party."

"Roscoe was the guy at your hotel? The guy who said he was Ryan's father." Todd looks straight at Michelle to see her reaction. He knew Michelle. He's known her all his life. His gut was telling him that she couldn't have lied about something like that. But, his mind was reminding him of what Roscoe said earlier that night.

"Todd, don't believe him. Ryan really is yours. That maniac Roscoe was lying. He thinks I owe him something and he wants to ruin my life. I'm just sorry you had to deal with him."

"I'm sorry he did this to you. We should really call the cops, Michelle."

"No, Todd. No cops. They won't do any good where Roscoe is concerned, trust me."

"Michelle, why are you so afraid of this guy?" Todd asks, trying to understand the connection between Michelle and that man.

"Todd, don't make me get into this right now. I can't."

"She's right," says the doctor. "I need to check her out anyway. And if everything looks fine, she might be able to get released tonight. We got the wound from where her head split stitched up and now that she's awake, there really isn't any reason to worry. But, I'll need you to step outside for a few minutes while I continue the examination," he says, looking at Todd.

Todd leaves the room and walks down the hall to the payphone. He calls Llanfair to check in his wife and kids. After a few rings, Viki picks up.

"Hey Viki. It's me, Todd. I was just calling to see how Tea and the kids were."

"What are you talking about, Todd? You left a few hours ago. I assumed that they were with you," she responds, slightly confused that he thought Tea was there.

"What do you mean you assumed they were with me? Yes, I left there a few hours ago, but Tea stayed with the kids. They were up in one of the guest bedrooms for the night." Todd's starting to get a little anxious, wondering where his family was.

"Todd, the house has been empty for almost an hour now. The party is over and I had security go through the house to make sure everyone was gone. They're not here, Todd. Do you think she went back to the penthouse?" Viki asks, trying to mask her growing concern.

"I'll try there. Can you call Carlotta and see if she's heard from Tea?"

Viki says that she would call Carlotta and Todd hangs up the phone. He searches for a chair as his legs suddenly start to feel like they were made of rubber. Panic grips him and he has a dreadful feeling in his heart. He can call the penthouse and Viki can call Carlotta, but Todd knows in his heart that Tea won't turn up. He can feel that something is wrong. And it scares him to death that he doesn't know what.

TO BE CONTINUED