Todd, though stunned to see his brother, reacted quickly and shifted in such a way that Clint blocked Victor’s view of his face. He gripped Clint’s arm. “Quiet, let me handle this.” From his vantage point, he studied his brother. Standing at the other end of the building, Victor was dressed in the organization’s uniform, and he was armed. He wasn’t moving toward them, he was just waiting for an explanation. Todd disguised his voice, dropping it down and making it guttural. “Stay out of this, Lord. I’m doing what I was told. Taking Buchanan, here, for a walk in the fresh air.”
Victor looked puzzled than his hand slowly began drifting toward his weapon. “Funny, I could have sworn Buchanan wasn’t ready to face the world yet. What do you say we go looking for Baker and ask him.”
Todd pushed Clint forward, walking slowly toward Victor. “Hey, I don’t want to get in trouble. It was just a little walk, no sense bringing Baker into this. Look I’ll take him back to his room, and you can forget where you found us. With all the commotion going on, I figured walking back here was safe.”
“You figured wrong. The perimeter is out of bounds to unauthorized personnel. I’m afraid I’ll have to report you no matter what.” Victor stated coldly. “Give me your name.”
“Who made you the boss?” Todd growled moving himself and Clint even closer. “Come on, give a fellow a break. Baker doesn’t have to know.”
Clint looked over his shoulder at Todd and back to Victor. “Wait a minute. What’s going on? Victor, what’s gotten into you? Viki’s been worried sick since you disappeared and now Todd said…”
Victor’s eyes turned sharply from Clint’s face to the man holding him. “Todd?”
“Shit! Damn it, Clint!” Todd acted immediately as he saw his brother pull his gun. He shoved Clint into his brother with as much force as he could. The momentum was enough to jar Victor and put him off balance, sending both men tumbling to the ground. Todd immediately stepped on Victor’s hand still holding the gun and snatched it free. Then he moved quickly to cover Victor’s mouth before he could shout out. He put the gun to his brother’s forehead. “Don’t move. By rights, I should end this here. You tried to kill me twice, you bastard, and if I ended you, maybe this damn organization would get off my back. Clint, get up.”
Todd kept his eyes on his brother as Clint got back off the ground. The rage in Victor’s eyes said it all. The first chance he got, he would try and make a move. Todd had no choice. He slammed the butt of the gun into Victor’s head knocking him out. Tearing the sleeves off Victor’s jacket, he used them to make ties for his hands and feet and tore off a portion of his slacks to gag him. “Clint, help me get him back to the fence. We need to get out of here now. They’re going to realize you’re missing soon.”
“Why don’t you just leave him here?” Clint looked around uneasily.
“I can’t do that, he knows I’m alive. These people think I’m dead, and I want it to stay that way.” Clint helped Todd and together they moved Victor to the fence where Todd quickly opened the breach. “You first, Clint.” Todd looked back at the front gate. Things were back to normal there, but he knew any minute an alarm could be sounded. He handed his brother through the fence then clamored through himself. Finally, he closed the breach once again.
“I hope you’ve woken up, Clint. We got a walk ahead of us and you’ll need to keep up. I can’t carry Victor and coddle you at the same time.” Taking the gun, he handed it to his ex-brother-in-law and hoisted Victor up onto his shoulder. “Here. Knock him out again if he comes to. I don’t have time to fight with him right now.” He set out, keeping a watchful eye on Clint as well as their surroundings.
It wasn’t the easiest of walks. Todd had to change his course a number of times to avoid some sinister-looking boggy areas.
“Do you the hell know where you’re going?” said Clint as he stumbled over another rotten log. He kept one eye on Todd and another on his footing because the ground was uneven and treacherous.
“Yes. Sorry but there’s no easy path through this stuff. I worked around this compound for over a month. Believe me, the only easy path is the road, and we certainly can’t take that. By the way, beware the snakes.”
Clint looked around, wiping the sweat gathering on his brow. ” Don’t worry about me, I was born on a ranch and have done my share of rattlesnake round-ups.” He smiled at Todd’s disbelieving look. “Rattlers are a menace in Texas.”
“Um, sure. Whatever you say. I was just giving you fair warning about the ‘critters’ down here.” Todd started walking again.
Clint shook his head, wondering what made the man in front of him tick. He stared at Todd’s back, and the motionless Victor hanging there and started following him. Just then he thought he heard a moan. “Hey, is that Victor?” With his eyes on Todd’s burden, he wasn’t watching where he was going. Before Todd could answer him, his foot snagged in a tree root, and he was falling. He sprawled on the ground and began cursing.
Todd had stopped and turned around just in time to see Clint’s fall. He also saw something else.“Clint, be still and move back slowly.”
“What?” Clint had stopped cursing and heard the faint rattle coming just in front of him. There on the ground less than a yard away were several black and grey snakes. Their triangular heads and stubby bodies ended in rattles that were vibrating vigorously. “Damn!” He stilled, not making a move.
Todd kicked up some loose leaves and ground cover and sent them towards the snakes to distract them and give them something other than Clint to attack. One of the snakes struck out at the bark that came towards it then it slithered in the opposite direction looking for cover. The other snakes also chose to withdraw away from the flying debris. Todd looked down at Clint. “Sorry, should have been keeping a better eye out for them. You okay?”
Clint nodded, “I’m fine, thanks. You did warn me, I got distracted. I thought I heard Victor waking up. How much farther do we have to go?” He gripped the tree he had fallen next to and got back to his feet, brushing himself off.
“Not much.” Todd shifted his brother back into a better position on his shoulder. “Almost wish he would wake up. The son of a bitch is heavy.” He started walking again. About twenty minutes later they broke through the treeline to find themselves on the road that paralleled the back of the compound. Todd dropped his brother to the ground. Victor moaned but showed no real signs of coming to.
“He’s lucky to be alive. You hit him pretty hard.” Clint said, looking at the man lying on the ground.
Todd felt his brother’s pulse, and it was strong. He looked over at Clint and noticed the older man swaying. The walk had taken a toll on him. “Sit down, and give me that gun. Knowing him, he’s probably faking it. I’m not worried, he’s got a hard head.” Todd reached into his inner pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ll have our ride here shortly.” He called his car and glanced at his watch. It had taken longer than he would have liked, but the car wasn’t that far away. They had been walking for a little over an hour, and he still hadn’t seen or heard anything indicating that Clint’s absence had been noted. Maybe Baker was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to Sid Reilly. Todd shook his head and tried not to think about it. After what he had seen the last couple of days, he knew he could no longer trust the man. The only thing working in his favor was the fact that Baker hadn’t given him away. Blair was right, the guy was just working both sides for the money.
Clint leaned back against the tree and watched Todd. He remembered all the times he and Todd had knocked heads over the headlines. He also remembered a time when Asa had actually been working side by side with Todd to get Alex elected mayor. Asa had seen just how resilient and driven Todd was. Clint could now see a little of that strength that seemed to push Todd. “You and your sister are more alike than I realized.’
Todd looked over at Clint, surprised by the comment. “What do you mean?”
“No matter what, you both are determined to overcome any adversity that faces you and you’re both stubborn and want to do it all by yourselves. Viki didn’t want my help with the Banner, and when I did help, she hated it. You’re the same way, never asking for help.”
Todd shrugged his shoulders. “If that’s what you see. To rely on others you have to trust them, and I found out the hard way that trusting the wrong people just gets you hurt.” He nodded toward his unconscious brother, “Case in point.”
“What did you mean when you said these people think you’re dead? Who are these guys and why were they holding me?”
“I don’t know much except they threatened to harm my family if I didn’t kill Victor. I’m still trying to figure them out. Clint, have you ever seen or heard of a company that uses this as their symbol?” Todd slid his sleeve up and showed the fake tattoo on his arm. He watched the older man, to see if there would be any reaction.
Clint took a look at the tattoo and felt his heart start beating faster. He closed his eyes as the image became blurry, and the words of his programming filled his head The organization is to be protected at all cost. His breath caught and he clutched at his chest. “I…” his hands were shaking. He couldn’t go on. Be protected at all cost! Be protected at all cost! “My heart!”
Todd jumped to his feet and went to Clint, the tattoo forgotten. “Hey, take it easy. Don’t you die on me, Old Man?” Todd sat on his haunches and reached for Clint’s neck feeling for his pulse. It was strong, but racing. “Take some deep breaths, and just relax. I think you’re just having a panic attack. I used to get them all the time.” Just then Todd heard the sound of a car coming. He peered down the road and saw that it was their ride. “Clint, my car is here. We’re going someplace safe.”
Hearing Todd’s words, Clint felt his heart slowing down, and the pain in his chest eased up. “I guess I just have to admit I’m not up to these long treks anymore,” he said weakly.
“Right.” Todd wasn’t so sure that was the cause of Clint’s pain, but he would worry about it later. “Hold on, while I flag him down.” He showed himself and waited as the car slowed to a stop. Opening the back door, he went back to help Clint off the ground. Once he had Clint settled, he headed back for Victor. He was just about to pick him up when he noticed his brother’s eyes opened and glaring at him. ‘You’re awake. Well sorry, pal but you’re just going to have to take another nap.” Todd didn’t hesitate. He knocked his brother out again, lifted him up on his shoulders, and carried him to the car dumping him onto the floorboards. It was getting dark and he could make out flashes of light in the woods as the car pulled away. If the car had not arrived when it did, they would have been captured for sure. He sat back breathing a little easier.
Clint looked down at the unconscious Victor and back up to Todd. “Where are we going and what are you going to do with him?”
Todd frowned. His plans were going to have to change. Once again he was flying by the seat of his pants. He had figured on rescuing Clint and Victor, but that was when he thought they were both prisoners. Now he had a dilemma on his hands, and Victor was the cause. His brother had once again gummed up the works. “You’re not going to like this. I need your help, Clint. Someone is going to have to keep watch over Victor until I can figure out how to change his attitude towards me. If I let you go back to Llanview, it’s likely they’ll try and take you again. So for the time being you’re just going to have to stay hidden for a while. I’ll get word to Viki somehow that you’re alright.”
“I don’t know, Todd. Why don’t we just call Bo and let him handle this?”
Todd reached across and grabbed Clint’s arm suddenly. He pushed the sleeve up. “Take a good look. They’ve been keeping you drugged and doing who knows what to you. Someone in Llanview set you up. They’re still there, and until I figure out who’s involved, you can’t go back. I’m sorry but for now, you and my brother will have to be my guests for a while.”
Clint could see the needle marks on his flesh and his jaw clenched. Whoever had held him had wanted something from him. He sat back as Todd let go of his arm. “Okay, I’ll agree to stay hidden, but I want to know everything that you know.”
“Fair enough.“ Todd began filling Clint in on what had happened since his return to Llanview. At their feet, Victor listened to everything they were saying.
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