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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 71 |
Tea!! Slider instinctively moved his body to try and block her view of the interior of his apartment -- his mind desperately grasping at anything that would make sense out of what he was seeing.
"Tea...I...I don't understand..."
"I know," she said archly and her eyes left his to try and see past him. "This is so awkward. I'm sure you're upset with me for coming over here earlier than we planned, but I had to know."
Know? Know what??
"May I come in, Slider?"
"Well...uh...I'm not really feeling too hot right now..."
"Let her in, Slider," the voice behind him said with smooth authority, and Slider braced himself as he waited apprehensively for the explosion to follow.
Well...this is it then...
Tea walked past him as he reluctantly opened the door. Entering, she smiled at the man in the center of the room and walked over to him -- her hand reaching up to touch her hair.
"What do you think? Do I pass as a blonde?"
Slider stood stunned -- feeling as if he had just passed through some parallel dimension as he watched Tea move toward Nick and speak to him so casually.
"Not bad...not bad at all," Nick complimented her -- his eyes assessing her as well as Slider's reaction. Slider, you look like you've just had a powerful electric shock...
"I had to do it...you were right. I am being followed."
"What in the...wait a minute!" the shocked words popped out of Slider's mouth at what he was witnessing.
Tea looked back at Slider and read the disbelief on his face. "He didn't tel l you? Of course! No wonder you're staring at me as if I were a ghost!"
"There wasn't time," Nick interceded slyly -- secretly enjoying every moment of what was occurring.
"It's all my fault...really," Tea shook her head. "I took off after our meeting and came right over here...I had to know, Slider."
She was here...she already saw him! Then...she doesn't know that he's Nick...she couldn't know that he's not Todd! Nick is just playing along...he survived their confrontation...damn!
"Tea..."
"I know...I know what you're going to say. I should have waited...but, you've got to understand, Slider...I thought he might be here, and...I'm through waiting around for things to change. I'm finally taking charge of my life again, and that includes this man."
This man! What I hoped for when he saw her...it's all in ashes now...this a lter has claimed your husband's life for himself...what now? Think!
The doorbell rang, and Viki took a last look in the hall mirror. There was a flush to her face that made her skin positively glow, and she knew exactly why. Her level of excitement was almost uncontrollable. Two things were happening that together lifted her spirits to such a height that she almost felt like she could do anything.
Earlier she had received a phone call from Jason Patterson telling her something that had caused her adrenaline to shoot way up. He told her what he had learned at the police station -- that Tea Manning was in Chicago. Jason had asked her if she wanted him to investigate further, but she had declined the offer. She knew that she wanted to investigate this on her own.
Well...not quite on her own...
Calling Sam, she had started talking a mile a minute -- her words tumbling all over each other with her excitement.
"Whoa...slow down, Viki!" Sam said in an amused tone. "Now...give me that again."
"She's in Chicago! Tea's in Chicago!"
"Chicago? Well, what's she doing there?"
"That's what I want to know. She doesn't have family there, I'm sure. This could be behind the reason she disappeared."
"Well, I don't know what that would be, do you? Maybe she had business to take care of there?"
"No...no, I just don't think so, Sam."
"Viki...now Viki...I know you...what is it?"
"You do know me," she said softly. "Okay...don't think I've lost it, Sam...but..."
"No...oh no, Viki," Sam said forcibly. "They have a report...it's all there."
"A piece of paper...a doctored piece of fiction, maybe."
"All right...even if there was even the remotest possibility, why would he go there? There's nothing left there for him, and he would have to hide out somewhere."
"Well, he grew up there...I'm sure that he could find some place...someone..."
"Oh my God..."
"What?"
"I forgot! I forgot all about him...Slider!"
I've got both queens now, don't I, Slider. I've got Sherry, and now I have Tea...who will be very useful to me, I think. You've got nothing, and your little secret has been exposed. It didn't work at all, did it? Toddy is packed away safely, too...someplace where you and Tea will never find him.
Slider's eyes focused in on Nick, and he felt the effects of fear rising to the surface again.
He's capable of so much, and now he has Tea by his side -- an unwitting ally that he can use to his advantage. Except...she could get in his way, too...and that could be disastrous.
It's not over...you can stand there looking smug, but as long as there's a breath left in me, I'll do whatever it takes to put you back where you belong. I know where you came from...I have to find your weakest link and strike down hard.
"Need a drink, Slider?" Nick asked with phony concern. "A lot to swallow all at once, isn't it?"
"I'm fine...just fine," Slider responded curtly as he rallied from the surprise and took control of himself again. "Tea, it's okay that you're here."
"Thanks, Slider. Thanks for your understanding. Uh...my suitcase is in the car."
"Suitcase?"
"Yeah...I invited her to stay, Slider. You don't mind, do you?"
What is he up to? Why would he risk this reunion -- especially since he and Sherry...Sherry! I've got to tell her!
"No...uh sure. You're welcome to stay, Tea."
"I really appreciate this. I'm in a bit of a situation right now. I'll just go run down and get it."
"Just give me the keys. I'll go get it," Slider volunteered.
After Slider left, Tea whirled around and sized up Nick with her eyes.
"Well, Todd, what happened to your cane?"
"Oh...the cane. Yeah...well, I don't need it anymore. I must be on the mend."
"Good," Tea said in a low, seductive voice and slowly moved toward him. "I don't need this anymore either," she said -- whipping off the blonde wig and shaking her long hair out around her shoulders.
"Better," Nick said.
"What? You don't like me as a blonde?" she said coyly and moved closer to him. I'm going to see if I can somehow reconnect with Todd...but I'll have to touch you...
Before he could escape, she was there -- her hands reaching up to graze through his hair and her lips making contact with the velvet warmth of his mouth. I'm here, Todd...feel me, querido!
Viki walked to her front door and opened it, and beamed at the man standing there. As their eyes made contact, she felt such a rush of emotion that she had difficulty restraining herself from simply throwing herself into his arms.
"Hi," she said almost shyly.
Sam Rappaport walked in and ran his eyes lovingly over her. He had missed her. Even a little time without her was too long.
"You look...happy," he said as he noticed the heightened pink color of her skin and the way her eyes sparkled.
"I am, Sam...I know this may not be anything, but well...I'm psyched!"
Sam smiled slightly, but then shook his white blonde head and said more seriously, "Just as long as you don't go getting your hopes all dashed, Viki...we're going into this with no illusions, okay?"
"Whatever," she said as she threw back a word that her brother had used so often.
"Yeah...", Sam grinned back at her, "whatever."
"Well, I'm ready, Sam," she suddenly announced as she picked up a small tote bag by the door.
"Okay...but I'm not," he said. Removing the bag gently from her fingers and setting it down, his hands moved into her waist, and his body eased in next to hers. "First things first..."
Slider got off the elevator at the parking garage level, and scanned the row of cars. She said it was a white Corsica...
A car door slammed, but he continued walking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure walking toward the elevator. Halting suddenly, he yelled across the lot.
"Sherry!"
His footsteps quickened as he tried to catch up with her. "Sherry...wait!"
I know it's now or never...everything is escalating...she has to be told...
"Slider?" Sherry paused as she saw him advancing toward her. As he got up closer to her, she saw the steely, resolute look in his eyes and the dramatic appearance of a dark, fierce frown on his youthful face. In all the years she had known him, she had never seen him with a look quite like this.
"What in the world..."
Grabbing her arm, he steered her toward the elevator door. "Let's
go...you
and I are going to get some things straight!"
