When Helena’s phone rang, she looked at the number and smiled. “Hello Mr. Lord. It is so good to hear from you,” she purred.
“Yeah, whatever. I’ve thought over your proposal, but I want assurance before we go ahead with it,” Victor said shortly.
“Anything you want, so long as I get my great-grandson,” came the reply.
Victor took a deep breath. “I want to talk to Tea,” he requested.
Helena shifted her gaze to Allison and hit the mute button on phone. “What is Mrs. Lord’s condition?”
“She has been more aware lately, so talking with her husband shouldn’t be a problem. She is still semi-drugged, so she may not realize whom she is really talking to, which wouldn’t hurt us in any way,” Allison explained.
“Can you guarantee that?” Helena asked.
“There are no guarantees in life, Mrs. Cassadine.”
Helena pressed the mute button again. “Please, give us a moment. Mrs. Lord has been sleeping quite a bit and we need to wake her.”
Helena and Allison reached Tea’s room and entered. The Russian aristocrat sat on the bedside and roused her captive. “Mrs. Lord, you have a phone call,” Helena said sweetly.
Tea took the phone. “This is Tea Delgado, who am I speaking to?”
Victor’s eyes lit up. “Tea! It’s Victor, sweetheart!”
“What? Who is this?” Tea’s mind was still very foggy. “How can you be cruel like this? My husband is dead. How could you say something like that?”
“Tea, no, it’s me, I’m alive. I wasn’t killed that night in Llanview. I was a prisoner all this time,” Victor told her, his voice growing concerned. His mind raced with thought of how to prove himself to his wife. “Danie, Danie found us in bed together after we got you back from Eli, remember that? She was horrified. Then we went around delivering invites for our vow renewal.” His voice grew heavy with emotion. “You remember that?”
A memory came to Tea and a tear slipped down her cheek. “Victor? But how? Todd killed you…” Then she remembered being back in her home in Llanview with Blair. We don’t know how, or where, but Victor is alive. “Oh my, God, Blair said…But I didn’t believe--”
“Tea? Tea!” Victor yelled when her voice dropped off.
“I am so sorry, Mr, Lord, but your wife needed her medication and it is very time-sensitive,” Helena’s voice returned. “Now that you have heard your precious wife, let us work on the finer points of our deal.”
It took everything in Victor to hold his temper. In a dangerously low voice, he asked, “What do you want?”
“That’s better. Now, you will meet me in the conservatory at Wyndamere tomorrow morning at ten a.m. sharp. Just you and the baby,” Helena said.
Victor let out a sigh. “You know, the more I think of this deal, you’re getting shortchanged. I mean, you’ll be handing over my wife and son, but all your getting is a baby. What about it’s mother?” he said, trying to entice Helena. “A kid still needs its mother. I should know from experience. Besides, you’re no spring chicken. I can’t really see you running after him as he gets older.”
Helena thought about that for a minute. She had little use for Sam Morgan, but could merely kill her when she had the boy in her possession. It would also get to that little mouse, leaving her daughter for dead. Then again, Sam was Stavros’ child and with the techniques she had learned, Sam could be reprogrammed into a more pliant personality. The thought appealed to Helena. “You make an interesting offer, Mr. Lord. So be it. Samantha Morgan and her son, tomorrow, but just the two of you. Are you certain you can get them?”
“It will be easier to take the kid with its mother,” he reasoned. “Let’s make it noon though. She’s more likely to be out later in the morning.”
Helena nodded. “Very well then, noon at the conservatory at Wyndamere, Samantha and her son.” With that, the call ended.
Victor looked over at Anna and John, who were listening in on both ends of the call. “Alright, we suspect that they are all at Serenity. We’ll have a tail follow them to the harbor and have people in place for the meeting.” She turned to Sam. “You’ll be taking you son for a walk and he’ll snatch you on the street.”
“Maybe we could have the grab in the lobby downstairs? It’ll be easier for containment and we can have security really sell it if Helena has eyes on us,” Sam offered
John nodded. “I think that’s a better idea. We’ll set it up to look like it’s a hostage situation, give Victor a gun with blanks and a car with GPS tracking.”
Just then, Victor’s phone went off, signaling a text message. “Todd’s out of surgery and Viki wants me at the hospital.” He moved to the door. “I’ll be in touch early tomorrow,” he said as John and Anna nodded. With that, he left, heading for General Hospital.
John let out a low chuckle, which Luke took note of. “What’s so funny there?”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I actually think he’s worried about his brother,” John said.
Blair walked into the ICU room and her heart broke. Todd was hooked up to every wire and tube medically possible. He looked worse now then he had in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I know it looks bad, Mrs. Manning, but his numbers have improved, even in the short time since we finished the surgery,” Matt Harmon said. When Blair ignored him, he decided to leave the two alone.
Blair pulled the chair over to the bedside. “Hey there. I’m so happy to see you,” she said to the prone figure on the bed. “The doctors say you’re improving, so I need you to wake up, Todd.”
Behind her, Todd bent down and curled her hair around his finger. “Hey babe,” he said. “I’m right here, even though I know you can’t hear me.”
“She can hear you Todd,” Merrie told him. When he gave her a confused look, she merely smiled with encouragement.
Todd turned back to Blair. “I’m working on getting back to you, to the kids. Seems its all I’ve been doing for the last nine years.”
“You know, it’s been way too long that you’ve been away from us. Even when you were back, you were still away,” Blair said. “And I need you back. So do Starr and Jack. Sam, he’s got you wrapped around his little finger. Your sisters, they both need you, even Tina. And Victor, he’ll never admit it, but he needs you.”
“Really, Victor?” Todd asked incredulously.
“God, could you have imagined what it would have been like if you two had been raised together? Poor Viki, she’d libel to have lost her mind long ago, reigning in you two.” Blair said with a laugh. “You…are so important to all of us. And you need to come back.”
Just them the door opened and Jack walked in, Starr a half-step behind him. “I know they said just on person, but can be come in now?” her son asked. “We want to see Dad.”
Blair smiled at the teenage boy. She turned back to the bed. “Your son and daughter are here to see you.” She stepped aside and watched as he children went to their father’s bedside.
“Hey, Dad, it’s Starr,” she said, very voice sounding little more than a child’s. “We need you to come back, okay?”
“Yeah, Dad, when you’re better, you can print any of my highlights in the Sun, anything you want,” Jack added.
Blair stepped between her children and they put their arms around her. Todd wanted so much to be with them at that moment, but Merrie shook her head. “You’ll be with them soon enough, but you are still needed here and now.”
Todd continued to watch as Viki and Tina came in next. He smirked as both of his sisters stood there, telling him to get better in their mother hen ways. It was then that they were interrupted by the entrance of Victor. He stood at the end of the bed. “What are the doctors saying?”
“Well, right now, he’s getting better, but they have him in a medically induced coma to speed the recovery. He should hopefully be able to come out of it in twenty-four hours,” Viki said.
Merrie smiled. “You know, this is the first time we have all been in the same place, well sort of, at the same time. Viki, Tina, Victor, you and me, all of Victor Lord’s children,: she said as she touched Victor cheek.
Victor moved to the side of the bed and bent down. “Look, I know we don’t get along. We probably never will, but at least for everyone else, you need to wake up.” He turned to Viki and Tina. “I need to talk to you two outside. There’s been a break in the case.
Once they were in the hall, John, standing with Blair and the kids, Natalie and Sarah, explained what had happened at the Morgan penthouse. “So, in the morning, we’re going to imitate a sting operation. We’re going to get back Tea and her son.”
“But using Sam’s baby, especially with a woman who wants him…” Starr said, concern in her voice.
“It’s the only way. Besides, Sam will be with me the whole time. We’re just trying to buy time for PC’s finest,” Victor said.
“Look, we’ve got an early up tomorrow, I think it’s best if we rest for the evening,” John said.
“Yes, I agree with John about all of us. There’s not much more we can do tonight,” Viki said.
Blair shook her head. “I’m staying here.” When there was a round of protests, she stood firm. “I need to be here. I need him to know I’m here for him, and not one of you will change my mind.” With that said, she went back into the room.
Todd had watched her reenter and take her seat beside him. “That’s my Blair. Mother Lioness.” He walked over to her, and though she didn’t know it, enveloped her in a full-body hug, staying there as long as she did.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.
awesome chapter
ReplyDelete