A Few Hours Later
Sitting on the cot, Téa watches Todd closely as he frantically paces the jail cell. His 'questioning' had been fairly pointless. The evidence against Todd was strong, and pretty much every question that Commissioner Wesley had asked Téa had advised him not to answer. He would be arraigned the following morning.
She crosses her arms in front of her, comforting herself. She was experiencing an overwhelming range of emotions. Fear that Todd would be convicted, fear that she wouldn't be able to help him. Anger, at him for pulling her back into his life, anger at herself for allowing herself to be pulled back in. Curiosity as to what he's been doing all these months. Relief he was alive. Relief he had turned to her. Overwhelming love at seeing him in front of her again. The urge to wrap her arms around her caged tiger and comfort him.
Her head shoots up as she hears a loud thump. She immediately jumps up and rushes over to Todd, grabbing his arm before he slams his fist into the hard cement again.
"Todd!"
He looks back at her, his eyes wild with pain, fear, and frustration. It ate at her, tore at her heart. Grasping his wrist firmly, she smiles slightly, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Do you realize this isn't the first time I've stopped your fist connecting with something?"
Instead of lighening the mood, she sees Todd's face darken. He pulls his wrist away from her and walks to the other side of the jail cell. Téa watches, confused.
"Unfortunately, there was one time you weren't able to," he mutters. Todd looks down, unable to meet her eyes. As Téa watches, she realizes exactly what he is talking about.
"Todd..." she says quietly.
"I'm sorry," he blurts out quickly, "for that. I don't think I ever really said that, things got so screwed up after that, but I'm sorry. You have no idea how much I wish that I could go back and change that moment Téa, but I can't...I know that."
Téa takes a step closer to him, but Todd shrinks back against the wall. He's so filled with shame at that horrific memory, her bruised face now intermingling in his mind with that of the slain Amanda Cook.
"Todd, look, we...we were both wrong that day. And we do need to talk about it, but we have so many other things to worry about right now," she says, her voice gentle but insistent.
"Why did you come?" he asks softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you here Téa? After everything, why didn't you just slam the phone down and let me suffer? I mean, nobody would blame you if you had, even me."
Téa bites her lip, contemplating his question. She walks closer to him, searching out his eyes. They tentatively meet hers.
"I came here because you asked Todd. And like it or not, I've never been able to turn my back on you."
"Téa..."
"No, listen Todd. I admit, I have a ton of questions and there is a big part of me that would like nothing more than to scream and yell at you for the next few hours, but we don't have time Todd. All that will have to wait because right now, we have a big mess to deal with."
"Don't think there's much to deal with, they're gonna convict me, you and I both know it."
"Thanks for the confidence," she says dryly.
"Delgado, this has nothing to do with your skills as a lawyer. They got my prints on her, they found me drunk off my ass apologizing to this girl."
"Look, before you start panicking, let me go down to that bar and talk to some people. Maybe someone can tell me what time you left there. Maybe someone on the street saw what happened to this girl and can be a witness. All is not lost, okay?"
He grins slightly at her attempt at hopefulness. But he wasn't buying it. Although he loved her for trying. "Yeah, sure Delgado," he says, not believing her. Téa raises an eyebrow, knowing he is playing along. The fear rises in her again, the fear that she'll end up letting him down.
"Listen, I have to find a place to stay and then head down to that bar, but I'll stop by later if they'll let me back down, okay?"
Todd nods slowly, hating that she's going, yet wanting her out from behind these bars. She didn't belong here. He did, maybe, but not her.
"You can stay at my place. There's a key under the doormat. 27 Winston Place, apartment 4B."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I mean there's not exactly too many classy hotels around here," he replies. Truth was, he wanted her there. He wanted her to see what his life had been like since he left, without her. Wanted to make it hard for her to leave him behind should for once in his life the gods smile down on him and he beats this rap. Wanted to picture her sprawled out sleeping on his bed, a bed that granted he hadn't slept much in, but when he had, there had been dreams of her. And a few nightmares of the past, but maybe her mere presence there, her scent on the sheets, could chase those nightmares away.
"Okay, thanks," she says, standing by the door. She motions for the guard to let her out. "I'll see you later," she says softly, her eyes meeting his.
"Yeah," he replies. His eyes follow her as she walks out of the cell, out into the world. At least, no matter what happened, he had managed to get her back in his life again. Regardless of the circumstances.
*****
Parker Matthews throws down the Cook file on his desk. Damn! According to Frank, they had gotten nothing out of Manning. Parker had hoped that the evidence against the lowlife would scare him enough into making a false confession. And it seemed his lawyer was rather protective. No matter though, he would go down, that was for certain.
An irritated sigh escapes him. Damn kid of his. Causing this mess, this trouble. HE'D always been more careful, sure as hell never left a body around. A small part of him was at least thankful the kid hadn't turned out to be the wuss he was sure his mother would have turned him into. But of course, she had abandoned them both, typical woman. He often saw Jamie staring at an old picture of her, sadly. Which of course, had to be stopped. No soft feelings for women, they needed to be taught a lesson. So, Parker taught Jamie and Jamie had taught Amanda Cook. But no one would ever know that.
A knock on his office door drags him from his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
His secretary sticks her head in. "You wanted to meet Manning's lawyer, she's out here right now," she says quickly. Parker nods and stands up. Putting on his 'work' face.
He walks out into the main room of the police department and glances around. His secretary points to a woman with long brown hair dressed in a black suit. She turns her head slightly. Parker is momentarily shocked as he looks at her. Then, just as suddenly, a dark, eerie smile spreads across his face. Oh, this was going to be easier than he thought. He walks confidently over to the desk she is standing out, getting some files in order. He stops behind her.
"Well, if it isn't Téa Delgado," Parker says, his voice smoothly cold. Cold and ...familiar to Téa. Her eyes widen as she hears the voice behind her. A voice from her past...a voice she still heard...in her worst nightmares.
To Be Continued...
