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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 63 |
An impulse to act that was both wild and base in nature rose up and choked him as he saw the two people down the hall, and he couldn't stop it as it took hold of him and suffocated every other thought he had. His body vibrated with some kind of latent energy that wanted to be released when he saw Nick fondling her as if they were lovers.
Standing there in the midst of his very own hellish nightmare, he watched the man he was harboring and protecting put his hands on the woman he thought he knew.
I wanted it all to be a mistake…I wanted to find nothing going on…and I get this…
Deeper and deeper his emotions caved into some twisted state of anguish that he couldn't identify, and all the wisdom accumulated over the years seemed to pour out from some large, dark hole that had ripped into him. Every minute detail of the scene magnified to hideous proportions in his mind while he watched Nick's face next to hers -- caressing and stroking her skin with his own.
As Nick's arms closed in around her waist, his touch propelled her back into his chest - collapsing against him in surrender. His smooth cheek pressed and scraped along hers, and a whisper through her strands of hair floated through with ghostly calm.
"I'm going to take you to into another world…my world…"
A light, misting rain had fallen, and the watery film draped like see-through silk across the lush gardens and imposing brick front as Viki walked toward the front door of Llanfair. Pausing in front of it, she saw a dreamlike, past image of herself answering that door and greeting the many family members and guests who had crossed the threshold. How many times did I answer this door and you were there behind it, Todd…sullen and brooding over something. You always appeared when you needed me, but at least, you came to me for help. You and I had something special between us and we both knew that.
The massive, ornate door set within the stalwart residence was yet another reflection of the opulent life she had led over the years -- a life that was very blessed and also very cursed. There had been losses that were too painful to ever relive, and she was yet again facing another one in a long line of them. This loss seemed to be one of the most difficult to figure out and accept because a part of her still couldn't quite believe it.
Shaking her head a little, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.
As she hung up her trenchcoat, she glanced around as if to locate something that would bring back some warm feelings of days gone by, and her mind jumped back to earlier times with her young children running around the house.
Smiling, she saw the childlike figures in her memory and remembered how she would call out to them. Those memories were stored in a special place and she was glad that she could draw them out whenever she needed them. Yet, the playback of memories still left a void that she longed to fill. Sam…he had been there today for her -- holding her up with his eyes as she made her little speech. Saying good-bye to her brother had almost been a release for her as well. It was an ending, and she knew that she had her own ending to deal with. My children are all grown up, and now I have another life to live…but will anyone understand? Will this all be too much for them?
Stuffing a leftover bagel from the morning into his mouth, John Sykes' eyes scanned the calendar to check out his schedule. More cleanup from the Manning case…that meeting with Rosen…another meeting with the detectives…just like I thought…hell of a day…
Munching away and taking alternate sips from his steaming coffee cup, he looked at the manila folder on the side of his desk with the label "Todd Manning". The report had already been prepared and filed, but he had wanted to reread it -- especially in light of the fact that a copy of it was now in the hands of Viki Carpenter. A few days of mourning and he knew she'd be back at the Banner and possibly in the frame of mind to make his life miserable.
"Commissioner…it's Edwards on 2."
"Thanks Katie."
"Afternoon Edwards…got something for me?" Sykes forced out the question as he continued to swallow his bagel.
"Oh yeah…you could say that," Edwards said with the hint of a smile attached to his voice. "We know where she is."
Sykes' throat tightened and closed around a large bite of bagel. "What? You're kidding…that's excellent! Where?"
"We got to someone…a friend of a guy who knows her…a Miguel Fuentes. This Miguel doesn't know that our informer took the bait."
"So where is she?"
"Are you ready for this? Chicago. Does that city ring a bell for you?"
"Cut it out Edwards…just spill it. Why Chicago?"
Edwards seemed to relish the information he was able to impart, and said distinctly and with obvious pleasure, "That's where her late husband is from originally…Chicago."
"Well, then she's just visiting his family and paying her respects."
"What family? His dad died a few years ago, and his mother's been dead for years. His half-sister is here, and he has a sister in Baltimore. I'm just saying it's very odd that she took off not long after her husband died for the city where he grew up."
Sykes turned toward the window and looked out over the city street.. "What is that calculating mind of yours thinking this time, Edwards? You'd better tell me just what it is you're thinking…"
"I'm thinking that she didn't show up at his service, and I'm thinking that she disappeared suddenly. It's sounds extremely off base, Commissioner…I know that…but what if…"
What if he's not dead…
"Nick…Nick," she heard herself moan his name as his arms wrapped her up next to him. He has me…he knows it, too…
Her eyes fluttered open -- seeing the open door, and at once all her practicality came zooming back in to her. Slider! What if he were to walk in right now? What if…
Four years…four years and you think you know someone. A sick man is in there with her…a man she has no idea who he is or what his past is…this man who is divided into parts of himself…parts that came into existence to allow him to function. I'll expose him! I'll tell her now…I can't let her be taken in…he's a married man!
There was something bothering him that leaped past the reasons he wanted Nick as far away from her as possible. …Z is married…Nick is only one facet of Z's mind. A relationship with a woman outside of his other relationship could do damage…serious damage…yes, that's why this is so impossible…he can't have this…it will bond him to another human being and maybe erase Todd from memory.
Yet the psychological conclusions he was mentally preparing in his head to understand what he was witnessing did not explain why there was such intense rage within him -- why he wanted to pry the secret lovers apart and throw Nick violently up against any wall. It had taken everything he had to stop himself from running down to that door to confront him -- but not just him…her.
Mental pictures began to hover and block out what he was really seeing - snapshot-like pictures of times of laughter, camaraderie, and some shared moments of pain and depression. Her face crystallized in these pictures - her flawless skin, her snapping eyes, her shiny black hair swinging back and forth. Always there…you've always been there…
I'll let you go, Angel…I will…but this is the last time… "I have to go…I have to, Nick!" Sherry pleaded but noticed that his arms had loosened around her. His mouth remained close to her ear, and he slurred his words in a rich, melodic tone as he spoke. "You're free, Sherry…you always were."
What he said tore her up more than if he had demanded that she stay or that she meet him later. Are you always this diplomatic, Nick? I doubt it…I think you're much more of a control freak, but you probably figure that this is the best way to get what you want, don't you?
"I'll…I'll talk to you…later," she said and lowered her head so that he wouldn't see her eyes and forced herself to let go of his arms.
I'm going to leave you something to remember me by…
As she began to twist her head around to leave, his head dove down to meet hers -- his long hair bunching up against her chest and his soft mouth catching her moist lips in another searing kiss to seal what had already transpired between them. Releasing her, his now softened eyes watched her as she looked up at him with even greater shock -- backing away and turned quickly to disappear behind the open door.
The sudden emergence of Sherry into the hallway caused Slider to slink back behind the stairwell door, but he couldn't bear to leave without seeing her face up close. She seemed to charge down the hall in frenzied flight as she neared the elevator and stabbed the button viciously with her finger. A deep flush had settled all over her face, and her eyes sparkled with fiery intensity. As she waited with apparent impatience for the doors to open, her right fingers went up to her lips and touched them -- moving in a slow, languid, circular motion. Her eyes closed as if she were in some private world of sensuality as she murmured something that she thought no one but she would hear.
"Nick…"
The doors opened with a hissing sound and the elevator swept her away
and out
of the sight of a man hidden behind a door whose legs had suddenly
given way
under him, and whose body had sunk in slow motion down to the floor.
