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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 78 |
No lie, Sherry...
Sam looked at Viki and gave her a nod of assurance as he heard the name he had been called by long ago in Chicago.
"Yes, it's me," Sam said.
"Well, Coach! It's good to hear from you," Slider said and caught Tea's questioning eyes.
"Slider, look...I'm in town. I really need to meet with you."
"What's this all about, Sam?" Slider asked. As if I didn't know...
"Your lawyer?"
"Yep," Nick's smooth, full lips drew back in an easy smile, "and she came with a very big price tag."
"Now I guess I should ask you why you have a lawyer," Sherry studied his face, but as Nick's mouth began to move, she raised her hand. "Okay...I already have a pretty good idea that you've been in trouble...maybe someplace else. Maybe it's not really my business, Nick, but all this is getting too complicated for me not to know more about you."
That's where you're so wrong, Sherry...everything that I am or will be is your business now...
"Well...anything?" Sykes asked impatiently as Edwards scanned the screen of the laptop.
"Not enough yet," Edwards continued typing. "I'm accessing some background information on his father. He was fairly well-known."
"I knew that," Sykes swallowed the hot coffee too quickly -- burning his tongue. He looked around the small, nondescript restaurant and checked to see if their presence was too conspicuous. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the two nicely dressed men sitting at a corner table -- one of them furiously clicking away on a laptop computer.
Well, Delgado and his flunkies got here before me, and he may be a few steps ahead, but there's still time to get to the bottom of this...come on, Edwards...hurry the hell up!
If I tell him "no", it may arouse his suspicion. Besides, there's no evidence that Todd has even been here. Also...Coach may have something for me...something I need to know...
A few minutes later, Sam clicked off the phone, and turned the key in the ignition. "He gave me the directions. I know that area. He says come over now."
Viki shifted in her seat as her excitement began to build. "How did he sound? Surprised?"
"I don't know exactly," Sam said as he pulled away from the curb. "Not as surprised as I would think. You know, he always was a sharp kid. Todd was almost less of a mystery to me than Slider."
"Why?"
"Back then, Slider was an extremely popular kid in school...very well-rounded and liked by all, and yet there was something about him that just didn't fit in with that whole picture. With Todd, well, I already knew his background, and a lot of stuff could be explained. Except...well, except for later on...later on in high school."
Viki said eagerly, "Go on, Sam...tell me more. Tell me about that time."
,center>****
Nick took her arm again and steered her toward the park entrance. "Look...I could give you pat answers, but it wouldn't really tell you what you need to know about me. Are you game to find out more?"
"Meaning?"
"I'd like to show you my roots...you know...where I came from." Nick said and looked sideways at her face as they continued walking.
"Are you deliberately trying to arouse my curiosity, Nick?" Sherry said with an touch of sarcasm in her voice.
"Just trying to give you the whole picture, Sherry," he said lightly as they neared the street.
"Well, I"....
Nick's hand shot up and before she could finish her thought, a cab had pulled up to the curb.
"I'm going to show you something...something that will make you see me in a much different light," he said and opened the door of the cab for her.
Rubbing her hands together, Tea looked sharply at Slider as he hung up the phone.
"Who...who was that, Slider?"
"Someone I used to know," Slider said and glanced back toward the kitchen. "You hungry?"
"Starved, but..."
"We may as well eat now. We're going to have some company soon."
"Well...who is this company? Or should I even ask?"
"Nobody that you'd know. He was a friend of Todd's back when we were in school. In fact, he was his football coach...a man named Rappaport."
Tea felt the hair on her arms rise as she heard the name. No...no...don't tell me...
"Not...Sam Rappaport?"
"Yes...you know him?"
Nodding her head slightly, she replied, "Uh...yes. I do know him. He lives in Llanview."
Lives in Llanview! What if Coach suspects Todd is here...what if he doesn't think he's dead?
"What you said, Slider...before...about Nick and Sherry...when you were so angry," Tea said as she followed Slider into the kitchen.
"I'm still angry," Slider said -- opening up the refrigerator. "I've got leftovers."
"Fine...but what did you mean when you said "he's gone with her?" Tea's brown eyes reflected a rising panic.
Slider closed the door with his shoulder -- holding two large plastic containers in his hands. "I may have been jumping the gun...but somehow, I don't think so. You ran into her, didn't you...leaving? Now Nick isn't here, and he hasn't left this place since I brought him here."
"...and...you thnk that he and Sherry have gone off together?" Tea blurted out as the panic began to shake around inside her.
Slider leveled his eyes on her and spoke sternly, "I don't want to believe it, Tea, but that's what my gut tells me."
"Well," Tea ran her hand over her neck, "you say he loves her and all that, but they couldn't have known each other long...this doesn't make sense."
"With Nick things never make sense," Slider said grimly. "I didn't know it was happening...well, yes I did, but I wanted to push it out of my mind. He went after her in a big way, Tea."
Tea swallowed with difficulty as she processed what she was hearing. Where did you go, Todd? You allowed this alter to...to get between us...to betray our love...
The microwave beeped, and Tea's mind switched back to her harsh reality. Grabbing a couple of plates in a cabinet, she methodically set the table.
"What does it mean, then?" Tea's eyes began to blur and she heard the plaintive sound in her voice. "Does this mean that he won't come back to me?"
As Tea filled their glasses with ice, Slider poured their tea. "I'd be lying to you, Tea, if I told you that this couldn't happen. Nick...the alter...has formed a very strong attachment to another person. Prying him loose from her is going to be next to impossible. We need help."
"Help," Tea's eyes suddenly brightened. "He said that he would need help."
"Who?"
"Todd...Todd said it," she sat down across from him. "He said that I couldn't do this alone."
Sherry sat inside the cab and looked out at the passing sights. A large, warm body was pressed up against her, and her hand was cradled tightly inside a larger one. The rocking motion of the car lulled her into a semi-relaxed state while her hand felt an increase of pressure as he squeezed it gently.
"How ya' doing? You're so quiet."
Turning from her gaze out the window, she looked straight at him, and her slanted eyes tried to see deeper into his soul than they ever had before. Wh o are you, Nick? Sometimes I think I conjured you up in my imagination...a man tailor-made to provide me with what I want. That's why I have to know...I have to know what it is about you that makes me act this way...
The cab eased down a tree-lined road with the flickering light of the fading sun passing overhead through the trees. Sherry peered out through the glass and saw the well-maintained lawns and the grand, older homes that lined the street. As the car slowed down and stopped in front of one home, Sherry leaned forward again to stare out at its impressive, stately facade surrounded by a dark, wrought-iron fence.
"Nick...what is this place? Where are we?"
Nick paid the cab driver, and reached across her to pull on the handle of the door.
"Get a good look, Sherry...we're home."
