The Way Back: Chapter 25

Tomas folded his arms over his chest, his jaw movement telling a tale of his anger with Tea's husband.  "I told you exactly why I did what I did.  Now, are you going to bring them home or not?  You worked hard for that fortune and for all the power and prestige connected to it.  You're going to give that up?"

"For them, I would, yeah, is that too hard for you to understand?  Oh, wait, maybe it is.  You, the quintessential spy.  You can't get it because to you, love is obsessing over a woman you don't know from her photos and your amateur painting of her."

"Listen, get my sister back to town.  You had better appreciate what's been done for you at this point.  And trust me, my motivation is zero about you.  The only thing I want concerning you is to find your real identity so I can finally blow the lid off it all.  Right now, those two happy girls over there are my main concern.  They stay happy.  For now."  Tomas turned to walk off from him, hugging and talking with Tea and Dani, before heading off.

Tea and Dani ran to him.  "He said you're bringing us home!  Is that true?"  Tea asked.

"Do you want to go home?"  He asked her, pulling her into his arms.

"Well, school is about to start, and Blair is going to need us, I think, probably Starr and the boys too?"

"Please Daddy?  I miss my friends and Starr and Sam."

Sam.  He had almost forgotten about the little runt.  His existence was something he would have rather forgotten, though the kid did worship him.  Not his fault his mother was a crazy bitch.  "All right, settled, we head home.  But we have to come back here to Bali, okay, sometime?"

All agreed to return, and each one went back to the cabana to gather their things and pack.  He would send for most of the belongings when they returned to Llanview.  They were on their way back to town, but in the back of his head, something threatening loomed:  Delgado.  What was he going to do about him?  He knew entirely too much about him, the real Todd Manning, and his plans.  He also knew the DNA test was fake.  At any time, he could take Tea and his world away from him.  This is a case for dear old 'Dad.'

***

Todd slumped in the chair, breathing heavily, covered in sweat.  Ray sat across from him, and leaned forward on his knees.  "Todd, can you hear me?  If you can, respond."

"I hear you, Ray.  I hear you."

"Okay, that's good.  Do you remember what we just were talking about?"

"Yes.  The Thin Man, Burly, The Slice and Dice, Baker, Kent, and the joys each one brought to my life.  The last two were pansies compared to the others."

Ray smiled weakly.  "Then we're making headway.  You actually said, without my prompting you, and without falling apart, the names of the tormentors."

"Not all.  There's one that I've not really talked about yet.  I used to call him...Grim Reaper."  Todd began to shake, "He wore a hood."

"See?  You're humanizing them, which means you're closer to moving past it.  It's not going to be easy, but I promise you, it will get better.  You know, sort of how bad dreams seem so threatening until someone talks about it with you?"

"All right.  I'm going to trust you here, Ray.  What about Blair, is she in danger from me?"

"No, Todd, she's not.  As long as she doesn't startle you during these times, or touch you too quickly during an episode, she should be all right.  It seems like she's learning just how to cope with it, and she's exactly what you need right now."

"I know.  She's everything I need, always."

Ray stood, extending a hand, "All right then, I'll see you in two days, for another session, all right??"

"All right."  Blair appeared at the now-open door.  "Hi you guys, everything okay?  Todd, you look tired, are you all right?"  She went to him.

He accepted her hug, holding her close to him, and shutting his eyes momentarily.  "Yeah, I'm fine.  Can we go get something to eat?"

She looked at her watch, "Yeah, we have some time before our appointment, and we can talk.  Thank you, Ray,"  she said.  They walked out arm in arm.

In the car, Blair started to ease Todd into the conversation.  "Todd, we have to go to John's office by 3:00 p.m."

"You told me that already."

"I know, but I have to tell you something else.  You see,"

"Look!  Five Guys!  Please?"

She laughed, unable to help herself.  He had that simple, happy personae in gear, and she was taken by him.  "Yes, of course, let's go.  But keep your hands out of the fries until I get at least 2 or three?"

He agreed.  They ordered and sat, and over their food, she became disturbed.  He noticed, "All right, you wanted to tell me something in the car.  Right?"

"Right."  She was so uncomfortable, she was moving in her chair awkwardly.

"The test came back, it's not a match.  Isn't that what you want to tell me?"

Her eyes widened.  "How did you know that?"

"I figured it out.  You didn't want to tell me something, you said you had to, it had to do with the test, so it had to be that.  What else could it be?  If it matched, we wouldn't be having this discussion at all."  He chewed.  "Uh, you might want to get a couple of these before they are gone."  He stuck his hand back into the brown paper bag.

"And this doesn't upset you?"

"No, there are plenty of fries.  I can share."

"Todd, be serious.  You're not upset about this test?"

"Why would I be upset about it?  I know who I am.  And, after all I have been through, nothing that happens surprises me.  Think about it, Blair, all that stuff I faced for eight years.  Someone had to set that up.  Someone made me vanish.  Someone had to run the place.  Someone had to know how to do it, just right, to inflict the worst possible...."

"Todd?"

He took three deep breaths.  "I'm all right.  The worst possible pain in the worst ways.  People who can do that, can easily think of a way to do this."

She hadn't thought of it that way.  And she realized just then that keeping it from him was a mistake that she would not keep again.  They were always better as a team, and they would continue to be one, from that day forward.

"I mean, you believe me, right?"  He asked.

"Yes.  I know you're Todd.  No one can be taught the things you can do."

He smiled.  "Let's go see John, then.  The problem is probably going to be convincing him."

"I'm not sure about that," she said.

In John's office, Blair sat down, and Todd paced.  Relaying the story about his suspicions regarding the test alteration made him have to recite some of the things his captors had access to and were able to do.  It wasn't simple, but he got through it without any hitches.

"I believe you."  John simply stated.

"Huh?"

"I believe you're Todd Manning.  I believe what you said is true.  I thought from the moment I saw the results that there was tampering somewhere along the line."

"What now, John?"  Blair asked.

"Well, we go to the most likely source.  Vimal Patel.  He's done this before, that's first.  Second, he worked for the other guy.  I'll get him in here later and question him about it."

"Good, and maybe we can keep this under wraps until then, so the town does not go haywire with it."  Todd said, finding a seat at last.

"Uh, no can do.  Someone leaked it to The Sun at noon.  Special edition."  John held up a newspaper that read, "The Real Todd Manning or Fake Fortunehunter?"

Todd looked at Blair, who immediately grabbed the paper and threw it on the desk.  "That rag!"

"Uh, that's my rag, Blair."  Todd said, chiding her with humor.  "Don't worry, things will work out.  We'll get another test.  John, can you arrange for another test, and put it through yourself?  If we do this, and keep it quiet, no one will flag it and maybe it will escape the tampering."

"That's a good idea, Manning, so if you don't mind getting swabbed before you go," he picked up the phone, "Davidson, bring me a DNA kit, stat."  Hanging up, he turned back to them.  "Someone's out to get you, or at least keep you from getting your fortune back.  And if we think about it long enough, you can come up with a few names of folks who might not want you to really be who you are."

Todd didn't bother responding, he just thought about it.  The Impostor, for one.  Tomas Delgado for another.  

"Now what?"  Blair asked, sitting down again and crossing her legs and arms.

"We wait."

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