The Way Back: Chapter 44

The Grim Reaper ran his hand over the special lock and opened the door to 'The Manning Suite.'  There, sitting in the chair, was Manning, lost in his head again, motionless, gone. His wife was on the bed, staring at the door with utter terror in her eyes.

"What do you want?" she said.

He didn't speak.  He just pulled the lighter from his pocket and walked toward her.

She wasn't afraid of his lighter or of him.  The real threat, in her eyes, was tied up under the bed and knocked out with a $500 Louboutin pump.  "You don't scare me.  You scare Todd only because you're sick enough to use what he faced as a child against him in your torture games.  But you don't scare me, with your lighter."

He continued walking toward her.  Wait for the right moment, Manning.  Just wait for that right moment.  If he touches her...

She heard the eerie sound of a mechanical voice changer.  "I will burn you, like I burned him.  And maybe, I'll make his childhood fears a reality again.  He'll watch.  If he does not talk and give me the information I need, I will kill both of you.  But of course, he'll be last.  I've learned a great deal about our Mr. Manning over the years.  The greater torture would be to lose you, and the greatest of all would be to watch you and his child die."

"I wonder why you hide under that hood and why you change your voice?  Is it the obvious?  I bet I know you.  Coward."

He pulled a gun from under his robe, at which Blair became startled.  "I can just kill you now, if the love of your life is not going to emerge and try and save you."

Blair was unsure what to do next, until she saw Todd rise up out of the chair and approach The Grim Reaper from behind, silently.  She kept still, looking at the gun, and waiting, careful not to alert the kidnapper.  In a flash, Todd was on him, raising his arm that held the gun to the ceiling and fighting him toward the chair.  "This time, you're not stopping me.  This one is going to the chair, Blair."

She didn't speak.  She knew she had to let her husband do whatever it was he was driven to do.  "Eight years," she thought.  She also knew in her heart he would not be able to go through with it, for she was certain that the man she loved couldn't inflict what he had endured on another human being.  Not again.  Not now, in this their third lifetime.  Or was it their fourth?

They struggled, and Todd had the gun at bay until the hood slipped down off the man's face.  Blair screamed.  "Oh my God!"

Todd lost his composure at seeing Carlo Hesser in front of him, and Carlo swung around and took Blair in one elbow, with the gun pointed at her head.  "Hello, Mr. Manning, Mrs. Manning.  We meet again, don't we?"

Todd was breathing heavily, fighting exhaustion, dehydration and hunger.  "Carlo?  You?"

"Most of the time, yes.  At other times, when I was otherwise disposed, my crew took over for me.  The Men of 21 are very resourceful, Mr. Manning."

"Let her go.  I'll stay here, I'll give you what you want.  I have it, I finally know what it is."  Then softer, "I finally remembered."

"Let her go?  Is that what you think is going to happen?  So she can tell the world who I am and what I've done?  Ruin my respectable name?"

"Just let her go.  It's the only way you'll get the information from me.  The only way."

"Oh no, Mr. Manning, you're wrong.  There are other ways."  He shoved her into the chair, and attached one wrist band with his gun-free hand.  The other hand held the gun to her head.  For a moment, Todd panicked, motionless, thinking of a way out.  Then he recalled Slice and Dice's knife in the back of his pants.  He watched as Hesser attached Blair's other hand to the chair.  "So, now, letting her go, hmm.  Is that still an option?" he laughed.

Todd was beginning to falter.  Hungry, tired, and having gone without water for many hours, he was weakening.  He also felt the suspicious seep of darkness around him and fought it all with everything he had.  "You're not taking her from me.  You've taken almost everything else.  Not her."

Holding the gun in one hand and the controls for the chair in the other, Carlo stood smirking.  "I beg to differ.  You always thought you could get the best of me, Manning.  You deluded yourself.  I've had the best and worst of you for, oh, eight years.  Give me the information now, or I turn this switch.  It won't kill her, as you know, but it will make sure that child of yours does not exist."

Blair stared at the floor, quiet.  She prayed that her husband would overcome what she knew was afflicting him that moment.  She looked up suddenly and said, "Todd, I love you."

"I love you too, babe.  Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

"The information?  Now, Mr. Manning."

"I have to get it."

"Where is it?"

"Over there somewhere," he pointed absently, and Carlo followed his finger for a brief second.  Todd kicked the gun free and scrambled for it, and Carlo didn't move.  Instead, he laughed.

"You have the gun.  I have this."  He held up the remote.  "Even if you are a great shot, my finger will hit this button first, won't it?"


Rubbing the sweat off his brow, and shutting his eyes tightly for a moment, he battled the dark that threatened to overtake him.  "Why don't we see about that?"  He kicked again and sent the remote flying on the floor.  Diving for it, he lost the gun, and got the remote in his hand.  He stood up, facing Carlo Hesser's gun.


"So, you going to shoot me?"  Todd asked.  He had the remote.  At least Blair, she....


"Perhaps, Mr. Manning.  I want that list of the names and addresses of the Men of 21.  You have it, I want it."


"And you want me to believe we won't be killed if you get it?"


Carlo laughed.  "No, I don't.  Now you're trying my patience."  He returned the gun to her head once more.

"Let her go, Hesser."

"Not in my vocabulary.  The list, Mr. Manning."

"No,"  He opened the remote, pulling out the wires and battery and tossing the latter into the toilet.  "Let her go, Hesser."

Carlo faltered for one moment.  For a second, Todd saw an opening.  As Hesser's devious mind attempted to conjure another move, Todd plunged toward him, and the both of them fought over the gun.

Blair was screaming for help, not that it would do any good.  Terrified to lose him, she tried to watch the scuffle to see who was getting the advantage.  Soon, the fight moved behind her and it was impossible to see them.  

Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and John McBain pulled his revolver out. Behind him were The Impostor and Ray Martino.  "Freeze, police!"

Hesser whipped around and still holding the gun, threw Todd free and shot. 
The Impostor called out, "No!" and pushed John to the side, taking the bullet in his abdomen.  He fell to the floor.

Blair screamed, Todd found his footing again, squeezing out the darkness, and wiping his brow.  He grabbed Carlo from behind, knocking the gun free. Blair kicked the gun to Todd, who had Carlo by the neck.  He kicked him behind the knees, to bring him down.  Picking up the gun, Todd pointed it to the back of Carlo's head, as the older man, on his knees, froze in place.  Blair's heart was pounding.  Todd said, "Don't move."

Carlo spoke.  "My son!  My son, my creation!  My years of hard work!  You betray me?"

The Impostor was on the floor, blood was pooling around him.  John McBain, still holding the gun on Carlo, said, "Your 'son' is going to die if we don't get him help right now."  Pulling out his cell phone, he called for an ambulance.  

Ray attended to the man as he sweated and called out through the pain, "I'm not...your son."

Todd cuffed Carlo with The Slice and Dice's handcuffs, then went to Blair.  He unfastened the wrist bands, the way he had seen it done for years.  "How did you do that, Todd?"  She said, taking her hands free. 

He just smiled weakly and held up two silver keys.  She got out of the chair and hugged him around the neck.  "Oh Todd!" and she cried.

"Maestro," they heard from the man on the floor.


Todd's head abruptly turned to the man.  "What did you say?"


"Maestro.  I'm...I'm so sorry," he whispered through pain.


John shouted, "he's bleeding out, where the hell are they?"  He and Ray struggled to keep pressure on the wound.


Todd stepped forward, "Zeus?  It can't be."


The man looked up at him from the floor, breathing quickly as if in panic, pale, sweat-ridden.  "It is.  I'm so sorry."


Todd knew right then he should have recognized the blue of Zeus' eyes.  "Zeus?  Why?"


Carlo spoke, "Because he's a weak, snivelling, snotting nothing."


Ray looked at Todd.  "See that chair right there?  That should tell you something, Todd."  Suddenly, Todd was flooded with different memories.

He was in Viki's cabin, waiting.  Zeus came in through the door, and looked dejected.  Todd said, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry, something went wrong."  Zeus responded.

"Really?  What went wrong?"

"Just when your wife was going to hop in bed with that Irishman, that Mrs. Moody woman showed up."

"Marty.  If there's a wrong place to be at the wrong time, you can leave it to Marty."

"Well, what are we going to do now."  Zeus asked.  We.  "She was never supposed to be part of this.  Maybe we should let her know the whole thing was just a set up?"


Starr was cooing in her crib.  So tiny and so precious.  "No, we don't need to tell her it was a set up.  Let Marty think that her Irish boyfriend is kissing somebody else's Blarney Stone."  He softened,  "Be doing her a favor."


"She a friend of yours?"


"Marty's not a friend of mine.  Ah forget her, forget everybody.  You've gotta get the passports, right?  You know how to do that?"


"Where are you and the baby going?"


"I'm going to put a planet between us and sweet, ever faithful Momma Blair.  Going to a place called Bali."  

A bit more talk about passports and forgers took place, before Zeus had said, "Me, too.  I mean, I'm going to Bali, too, right?"

Todd looked up from a smiling Starr.  "Yeah.  I'm going to need a Nanny.  Go on, Mary Poppins, fly on out of here."

Todd remembered his face as Zeus had sauntered out of the cabin to do his dirty work and winced.  They never got to Bali.  Marty had discovered him in the cabin; plans changed.  Eventually, Todd and Blair worked their way back to each other.  Todd also remembered not needing Zeus any longer, after the Carlo Hesser shooting on the cruise ship.  Shortly following that, he stopped answering his calls and sent him off with a huge stash of money.  Through his own pain and hatred, he'd manipulated and used the man, and then left him in a new country, alone, to fend for himself.  This explained almost everything: Marty and The Impostor's fascination with her; his taking over The Sun and Todd's life; The Impostor's evident love for Starr.  It didn't explain Tea, but Todd was certain that both Carlo and Zeus had not planned him falling in love with her and her daughter.


Todd swallowed and set his jaw, lifting his eyebrows a bit.  He remained silent.  He looked back to Zeus, who was on the brink of unconsciousness.  "Zeus?  What made you do it?"


"He found me.  You know...I had nothing.  I had no one.  You were my only friend.  When you pushed me aside, forgot about me, he stepped in.  His shooting, you were supposed to look guilty.  I knew.  He...did things...always hated you, wanted revenge....used me," and he was gone.


Blair came up behind Todd, and hugged around his waist, silent in confusion.  Resting her chin on his shoulder.  "This is the magician, Zeus?  The one who I met in the park when Starr was a baby?"


Todd was still uncertain it was real.  "I guess it is, yeah."

Blair was not sure how to react.  Todd was affected strongly by the revelation of Zeus' identity, and she was not sure she understood just quite why. "Well, my strong, beautiful man, you saved your baby,"  she said, lovingly.


He closed his eyes, squeezing out the image of Zeus dying on the floor.  He turned to her, "and my babe."  He touched her hair, "If anything happened to you..."


"It didn't."


"Yeah, but your bra is not making it out of here alive."  He said, as she put her arms around his neck.


"That's all right.  It's just one less piece of clothing to remove when we get home."


"My wife, such a thinker.  I should have thought of that."


"Yes, I suppose you should have."  


He kissed her gently.  At this point, backup had arrived and various men were taking Carlo and The Slice and Dice into custody, taking prints, collecting evidence.  A team of paramedics were tending to Zeus' wound.  Carlo looked down again at the man on the floor, who was pale and gray and completely unconscious.  "My creation.  I worked so hard for this."


Todd spoke up, "You didn't create him.  You helped destroy him."


John said, "Get these lowlifes out of our sight."


Todd looked down at Zeus, Blair still in his arms.  "He wasn't a bad guy, ever.  But I know what men will do...in certain circumstances."  He stared at the chair.  

Blair took his face and turned it to her.  "I know what men will do, too.  They will rise up against the pain and save what's theirs.  And fight.  It's over."


Ray stood and approached Todd.  "I agree with Blair.  You made me proud, Todd.  You showed compassion to the man who stole your life for all those years.  You've come through this nightmare, and on the other side, you're definitely learning from your mistakes and changing.  I'm proud to know you."  He extended his hand.


Todd took it, and then changed his mind and hugged Ray, giving the masculine back slap and then retreating.  Blair was crying.  He couldn't look back to Zeus.  Even though the man had done terrible things, he still felt a pang of guilt.


He turned to her, "Stop crying, babe.  Everything's okay."


"That's why I'm crying, Mr. Manning, you're okay.  You're with me, safe.  I was so scared."


"I love you, Mrs. Manning."


"We aren't married, yet."


"Let's go right now and get hitched?"


"What?  Tawd!"


I love how she says my name when she's annoyed with me.  "All right, tomorrow then."  They walked out, arm in arm.


John, watching the paramedics load Zeus on a gurney, nodded to the EMT.  "What's the prognosis?"


"It's not looking good, Lieutenant.  Time will tell."  As they wheeled him off, John turned, with Ray still there, silent, to take a last look at the room.  He said, "What about Zeus?"


"Do you mean will he survive?  I don't know.  If you mean after this nightmare, I'd say yes.  But it will take a great deal to undo what's been done to him.  I'm prepared.  I've got nothing else to do,"  Ray smiled.

John's eyes rested on the chair.  "What do you think it was like?"


Ray's smile faded and he just shrugged, "I don't think.  I know.  First hand.  Let's just say Todd Manning is a very strong man.  It went way beyond the chair, what they did to him for eight years.  These men, if you call them that, reached into every evil they could perpetrate, and into every fear he had.  He considers himself weak for how he moved in and out of his mind throughout those years, but..." he shook his head, "a lot of other men would have come out of it completely insane.  I know he won't mind me telling you something to help you understand."

John paused.  The last of the techs was gone, the room empty, the halls silent.  "Manning?  No, he won't mind."

"Being catatonic is the mind's way of taking you away from something, to preserve yourself.  He put himself first.  That's important for Todd.  Any ideas what this 'safe place' was?"

John thought for a moment, hands buried in his black jacket pockets.  "I haven't a clue.  But if I had to guess, I'd say the woman that he just left with was involved."

Ray nodded, "In her arms.  A reception hall with gold balloons, cellos, violins.  Does that sound like an unreformed serial rapist to you?  A career criminal?"  Ray posed the question.


John immediately was aware of Ray's intent.  "No, it doesn't."


"Let's say for all intents and purposes, he's paid.  In full."


"I'll agree, he's more than paid at this point."


"Then, the thing you can do, as a responsible civil servant, is make certain he's free to live the life he deserves.  This town has to stop punishing him.  He's been punished."  Ray stepped forward, lifting one of the wrist bonds and letting it drop.  "Remember that."   He extended his hand.  "Nice meeting and working with you, Lieutenant."

"And you, Dr. Martino."  The two men left, one after the other, and the chair, still standing, reflected the light coming in from the cell door they left open.
 
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