 |
 |
|
| E-mail this page to a friend | Tell me when this page is updated |
| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 36 |
The low, mellow sounds of jazz music floated in the interior space of the car as Slider drove down the highway in his flashy silvery, blue Integra. A dusky, charcoal gray hung over the night sky and its beauty opened up his senses while he was thinking about Todd Manning. I can't believe this is happening...now...and I was thinking about you tonight...
As he reflected more on what was taking place, he tried to block out a pervading sense that he was about to make yet another great sacrifice for his friend. But you made one for me that I'll never forget...we're linked together...time doesn't matter...
John Sykes paced through his expensive, stately home - an undercurrent of rage welling up inside him. Even dead, Todd Manning, you're systematically destroying my carefully laid plans for the future! Just minutes after Viki had left, he had called Edwards at home and blasted him about getting the report prepared and having it ready for him first thing in the morning. Edwards, who had been asleep, groggily agreed to get one of the men to work all night on it if necessary. It had made him feel somewhat better, but he still didn't seem satisfied. Viki Carpenter was someone he didn't want to tangle with, and she would tear apart the report with her journalistic eye for detail and any flaws within it.
Turning out the lights in the hallway, he ascended the stairs knowing only full well that sleep wouldn't come easily on this night. - if at all. One police report could send me up in flames just like you, Todd Manning!
Where are you? I don't like that you're not here anymore...we had something special between us...Viki's lips moved and her voice uttered a name that made the man who was holding her, tighten his arms around her.
"Todd..." her eyes fluttered open and then closed again, and she felt a warm comforting shield around her body sending a pleasant sensation of security through her. With a start, her eyes opened all the way and she tried to get her bearings as the light once more hit her face. A final image of her brother smiling at her in a conspiratorial way invaded her mind again, and she shuddered as another image took its place. In her mind's eye, she saw a burning car against a backdrop of nothingness and a gasp rose up in her throat. Trembling, her head turned to look up at the face of someone she had come to rely on more than anyone else.
All her emotions collided as the impact of her sorrow hit her, and she tried unsuccessfully to stifle a sob.
"Sam..." she said weakly and the look in her misting blue eyes conveyed something that hit Sam with full force. Clutching her to him and with no thought of anything, his lips lunged into hers in a kiss brimming with a newly discovered love and laced with a dangerous passion. All control was out the window as he possessively pulled her to him - his mouth afire with an unquenchable intensity.
Everything that had marked her life in recent years with tragedy had put Viki on the defensive in all her relationships. Sloan dying still affected her deeply, and she had put so much effort into shielding herself from any more hurt. It had all worked so well, too - all the painstaking layering over her emotions so that she could be protected - but not this time. Maybe it was losing Todd...she didn't know...but the intricate net of protection had disintegrated and her soul was opened bare to the man who had been by her side most of the night. A jolt of awakened passion shook her as his lips against hers unlocked the powerful feelings entombed within.
"Are you related to this woman?" the doctor asked the man standing a short distance away - his hands stuffed into his pockets and a look of raw concentration on his light brown face.
"Yes, I'm her brother."
Dr. Eric Brodder peered at the man through a pair of bifocals resting low on his nose and his keen sense of people noticed something different. He's got to be connected with the police somehow. He's got that hard edge look to him...
He switched back to looking at the heart monitor and checked the vitals of his patient again. The intern on call had summoned him about a woman brought in whose heart rate was elevating...for no apparent reason. For a few critical minutes, her heart rate had indeed been rising rapidly, but now it was leveling out again. Damn strange, but not unheard of... He knew she had collapsed from the shock of hearing that her husband was dead. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary now, but she was still unconscious.
"I need to know what's going on, doctor," Del said with the authority of someone who was used to being in a leadership position.
"Well, she's fine basically. A little touch and go with the heart, but that's straightening out now...I think she'll be out of it before much longer."
"You think?" Del said, a bit aggravated that he didn't yet have a final assessment from this man.
"Yes...Mr.?"
"Delgado."
"Your sister suffered a severe trauma which physically manifested itself as a shock to her system. In these cases, there are always a number of ways for this to go. I really think your sister will be just fine as soon as she's subconsciously made the adjustment."
"The adjustment?"
Dr. Brodder looked squarely at the man whose presence seemed rather overbearing. "As I said, she's had quite a shock, and her system is attempting to climb back to a normal state. A lot of it depends on her strength of will...and mind."
As he uttered the last few words, a low moan escaped from the lips of his patient.
"I do know it...I do..."
Tea's eyes blinked and lifted to stare at a bright, blinding kind of light. The glaring light brightness was immediately covered up by the shape of a man leaning over her - his face broad with relief and happiness.
"Tea!! Thank God! I'm here...it's Del..." his otherwise booming voice dropped to a softer level as her eyes widened in bewilderment.
"Del?" she smiled slowly and her mouth opened again as if to speak out something that she needed to tell him.
"I know..." and she stopped as if realizing some error on her part. ..."I'm okay," she finished.
"Of course, Chiquita, I knew it, too," he lied to her - pressing his hand against her palm.
If she could have laughed out loud at that moment, she would have, but her words were still dripping with good-natured humor as she said weakly, "You liar...sure you did!"
The last leg of his journey was a nerve wracking one as Slider propelled his automobile forward into the deserted horizon. He had no clue yet as to what Todd had really meant about his condition and what had happened. What was it he had said anyway? Something about me wanting to turn back?
Absorbed in his own thoughts, he mechanically switched on the radio after the last CD finished playing.
"And the whereabouts of the missing Llanview Sun publisher may now be known. According to Llanview police, Todd Manning's Lamborghini automobile went over a cliff this evening off Bluemount Ridge. It is assumed that the Sun publisher who had abducted his wife, Tea Manning, by force, perished in the crash. Mrs. Manning was not in the automobile. A full report on his death is forthcoming, and the police have no further comments at this time."
The radio hissed like a snake as the reception seemed to fade again. Slider waited for any other information, but it ended there. He sat back in the seat, blowing out a small amount of air in an effort to calm his rising trepidation. So...Z...you were a hunted fugitive who's now presumed dead... what haven't you done?
Viki felt the tingles go up and down her spine as she allowed herself to be swept away by the tide of her emotions. Each movement of his warm lips on hers and the way his arms wound around her compulsively, produced an effect upon her which she hadn't known could exist anymore. Where have you been?
As his lips seemed to find every inch of her mouth and still wanting more, Sam found himself desperately trying to put on the brakes. This is Viki...Viki Carpenter...not some flighty younger woman who's out for a little fun. She's feeling very alone now, and you're taking advantage of that. You don't even know if this is really what she wants...even if it seems like it.
Abruptly he pulled away from her, letting his hands slide quickly down her arms and away from her body. His eyes turned away from her in an effort to compose himself in front of her.
Flustered, but now somewhat alarmed, Viki put her hand on his arm. "What's wrong, Sam?"
A tremor in his voice told her more than he intended as he looked straight ahead as if there were something ahead to concentrate on.
"I'm sorry, Viki...very sorry. I had no right to do that...especially not now."
For a moment Viki was mystified by his words, but then a flash of understanding broke through. He's intimidated by me...he's being a gentleman. Her eyes sparkled a little at the thought that Sam had put her up on some kind of pedestal. If only you knew more about my sordid past, you might feel differently.
"You're not the only one to make that decision, are you?" Viki said lightly with a slight lilt to her voice.
"Okay," he said somewhat reluctantly, "you've got a point, but...you don't know anything about me, Viki!" he said gruffly as if he couldn't possibly explain himself to her.
"Then, you'd better remedy that, Rappaport!" Viki countered and sat back in the seat, folding her arms together with a look that expressed a decision to stay there until he did.
Pulling into the gas station where Todd had said he would be, Slider cast his eyes around quickly for any sign of movement. Nothing. Where are you Z? A low-grade fog had settled over the air, and Slider got out of the car - moving slowly through the vaporous mist. The eerie sense of being out at this late hour in some gas station far from home was not appealing, and Slider felt the rise of impatience. You're hiding...but where?
This could be it. The shed he had spotted looked open, and he opened the door a small crack to squint inside. "Whaaat?" he found the sight of two large golden orbs of light glaring back at him.
A voice low and edgy spoke out of the darkness, and for a moment Slider thought he had stumbled on some alien creature.
"It's okay...it's just a cat."
The curtain of darkness opened up to reveal a large, broad-shouldered shape lightly outlined against the shed's interior. What he saw then was an even more frightening sight as the badly battered and bloodied form of Todd Manning emerged.
Slider emitted a low whistle as he saw the man he thought was his old childhood buddy. Searching past his extremely rough exterior, Slider's eyes directed themselves to the gaunt, hollow-eyed face. Yes, it's you...those are your eyes...
"You look like hell Z," Slider spoke first as Todd moved slowly toward him.
"That's because I've been there," Todd said in an icy voice laden with a deep, sad knowledge of things that others had never seen. He moved toward Slider like some sort of ghostly apparition, stopping in front of him.
"Slid..."
Suddenly his face and body appeared to freeze in time and his large
frame fell
forward -- caving in like a huge dead weight against the chest of his
astonished friend.
