*****

Late October, 1999
Manning House, Hours Later

Todd paces around the living room of their house.

Silence.

No ringing phones. No sound of her laughter.

Silence.

He runs his hand through his hair. It had been hours since he had left the police station. He had talked to Blair, asking her to take Starr on a "mini vacation" away from Llanview. Just to be safe. And then he had come home. And waited. Bo had told him to expect some kind of contact or ransom demand. If she had indeed been kidnapped.

"Maybe she finally wised up and left your sorry ass."

Sykes' words ripped through his mind. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of the words, the thought. But somehow he couldn't. Because they always left. Maybe Téa wasn't any different. He closes his eyes, stopping his pacing in the middle of the room. No. She finally told him she loved him yesterday. She wouldn't up and leave him.

Would she?

"Maybe she finally wised up..."

He felt the fear inside him slowly turn to anger. He opens his eyes, staring at the phone. No call. He clenched his fists at his sides. Maybe this was his payback. For hurting her. She sucks him into believing in her, her love..then leaves him. Turnabout is fair play. His breathing accelerates as he brings his hands to his face. No. Not Delgado. She wouldn't abandon him like this. Not when she knew what it was like to be abandoned. No.

"....left your sorry ass."

The anger now running through him causes a surge of adrenaline. He turns and bounds up the stairs, heading straight for their room. Their room. The room they had just started sharing.

He throws open the door, charging into the room. Looking around frantically, he heads for the dresser. He rips open the top drawer and begins rummaging through. Clothes go flying. But he's determined. To find a sign...any sign..of her betrayal, her abandoment. He shoves the drawer closed, moving onto the next one, again sending clothes flying. His hands run along the smooth wood at the drawers' bottom. Nothing.

Finishing with the dresser, he moves to the closet. Throwing it open, his narrowed eyes survey it. All her clothes still there. She was good. He pushes the clothes to one side and starts digging through the bottom. Typical stuff..shoes, some old law school books. But then...he freezes. A bag, a large shopping book. He grins morbidly. This was it..his sign. He pulls it out of the closet, sitting on the floor in front of it. He stares at it for a second...preparing to find out why she had abandoned him. Why she wasn't coming back.

Reaching in, he pulls out a box. He flips up the note attached to it.

Starr

Todd looks at it strangely, then rips open the box. Inside is a small sterling silver charm bracelet. A wave of confusion passes over him. He sets it down and reaches in for another box. He flips up the note on this one.

Starr..early present...Christmas Eve

Christmas? Covering her bases, leaving stuff behind for them. His anger is renewed as he reaches into the bag, this time his hands grasping an envelope. He rips it open, and sees a piece of paper. A confirmation slip it looks like. His eyes scan it closely. It was the confirmation of a reservation of a cabin...for New Year's. For two. His hand tightens around the envelope, convinced now of her betrayal. His angry eyes, scan the paper again, wondering who's she been screwing on the side all this time. As he reaches the end of the slip, he notices a small piece of paper sticking out of the torn envelope. Grabbing it, he opens it up, seeing Téa's familiar handwriting.

For Todd and me...cuz I'd never be able to drag him to a New Year's party.

He stares wordlessly at the note. Re-reading constantly.

For Todd and me...

His mind wraps around the note...and what it means. She had planned for them to go away. She hadn't left him. She hadn't betrayed him. The loopy letters on the page begin to blur as his eyes fill with tears. She hadn't left him.

For Todd and me...

He grasps the note in his hand, clutching it to him now. Like a treasure. Proof that his paranoia was just that. Relief that she hadn't abandoned him began to give to fear however. In a twisted way, he had hoped she had left him. Because then she would be safe. Now, he knew..something was wrong...she was in danger.

He slowly gets up, still grasping the note. He walks downstairs, almost as if in a trance. Walking back into the living room, he resumes staring at the phone. Willing it with his angry, scared eyes to ring.

Anything..I'll give you anything...just let me have her back.

He picks up the crystal bowl next to the phone and throws it across the room, watching it smash into a thousand pieces against the wall.

And then..I'll kill you...for ever taking Delgado in the first place.

To be continued...