Dorian glared at her. “I don’t give a fig for David. He can bed that bimbo Rama until hell freezes over. He means nothing to me anymore, but I thought Carl was different. How could I be so stupid?”
She started to reach for the plates but Blair moved to intercept her. “Dorian, stop! I really don’t feel like replacing those right now. Come on, sit down and tell me what Carl did.” She put an arm around her aunt’s shoulders and led her toward the breakfast table.
All the fire went out of Dorian as she slumped into a chair. “He’s been playing me for a fool. I thought he was unattached. We’ve been going out for months and there was never any indication otherwise until last night. I overheard him talking to another woman, someone named Ellie. He didn’t know I had entered the room and from the sounds of the conversation, he seemed to very concerned about her and whatever she was involved in. I didn’t want him to think I had been listening to his personal call, so I backed out of the room for a minute and then swept back in calling his name and asking him if he wanted a late night drink. He quickly ended the call and told me he had been talking to his protege. You know the young man, Viki’s young reporter, Jeffrey King. Then he informed me he couldn’t stay and had to leave town on some urgent business in conjunction with what Jeffrey had told him. I pretended to be upset and told him I understood, but it’s been eating away at me all night. He lied to me. He stood right there in the living room and lied right to my face.”
Her eyes welled up and she looked at Blair. “I thought he liked me. David, I can understand. He’s younger than me and he always had a wayward eye. But Carl seemed to really respect me. I thought we had an understanding.”
****
Carl stormed into his sister office. “What the hell happened!”
Alison looked up anxiously at him. “I don’t know. I let Baker handle the situation with the sheriff and then I took him to task about the missing man. It wasn’t until things had settled down a little bit that I was informed Clint Buchanan was missing. After thoroughly searching the grounds, we also discovered that Lord was strangely absent too. It seemed logical that he helped Buchanan escape during all the confusion.”
Carl wanted to throttle someone. “You assured me that Victor Lord was one of us. How do you explain him helping Buchanan?”
Alison stood up and straightened her dress then walked around her desk and carefully put her hand on her brother’s arm. “First, you need to calm down. This is just a minor setback. Lord has been a good little follower for several weeks. If he helped Buchanan, it was probably because he still felt some loyalty to his sister Viki. Baker assured me that Buchanan was falling in line and was almost fully programmed. I don’t think Buchanan will be a danger to us and I’m betting that once Lord returns Buchanan to Llanview, he’ll return to the fold.”
Carl looked down at his sister and coldly took her hand off his arm. “You’re a fool. Loyal or not, if Lord finds out his wife and daughter are still alive, he’ll turn on a dime.”
Alison smiled benignly. “Well then we’ll just have to make sure, they’re no longer alive. It should be easy, the girl already overdosed once and she has no idea that Arturo is working for us. If you wish they’ll be dead by nightfall. I don’t believe Lord has left Louisiana yet. He’s going to go to ground until Buchanan is ready to travel. That gives us several days to dispose of Tea and Dani. By the time Lord reaches Llanview, his family will still be gone and he’ll have no reason to stay. Just give me the word, Carl.”
He looked at his sister and saw the dreamy look she had in her eyes. Her desire for violence had increased since she had shot Victoria Banks. But things in Llanview were messy enough. For now he had to leave Lord’s family alone. “No, it’s too risky. Bo Buchanan is already questioning why he can’t see his brother. He’s also aware of the Organization, thanks to Lord killing one of our operatives. If anything happens to Dani or Tea at this time it’s just going to raise more flags. I want Lord found before he can get Buchanan home. If you have to put up roadblocks around the city to check every car, you do it. I’ll notify my people in the Transportation industry to alert us if they travel any other way besides car.” He reached and squeezed her hand tightly in his to get her attention. “Do you hear me, Alli?”
“Owww! Alright, I hear you. I’ll leave the Delgado women alone. I‘ll get the word out to the Messenger’s followers to watch the highways into Llanview.” Alison pulled her hand free her brother’s and walked back around her desk. “I’m sorry I lost them. I’ll get them back, I promise,” she said quietly casting her sorrowful puppy dog look at her brother.
Carl softened at her expression, he had never been able to stay mad at her for long. “I know you’re sorry Alli, it’s essential to my plan that we get them back. I need a little more time to get my power base in Llanview in place. If you’re right about Buchanan, with just a little more programming, he’ll fit neatly into my plans and the Organization can move forward with our bigger agenda. I’m exhausted. I’ll leave you for now. You can reach me in Baton Rouge. I expect some results within the next twenty-four hours.”
Alison let out the breath she had been holding. Her brother was the one person who scared her. She walked to her door and turned to the guard outside. “Get me, Baker!”
****
Blair began picking up the pots and pans that were strewn all over the kitchen. She heard the water running above her and knew Dorina had taken her advice to soak in a nice bubble bath. She shook her head. “Damn it, David, this is all your fault. All you had to do was steer clear of Rama.”
“I have been.”
Blair whipped around. David was standing as big as life in front of her. “How the hell did you get in here?”
Sheepishly David held up his keys. “I never gave them back to her. Blair, I need your help. I love Dorian and I want her back, but she keeps refusing to talk to me. I was hoping you might put in a good word for me. I know I don’t have anything to offer her. I realize she’s been seeing that Peterson fella, but what we had was magical. I want that back. Sure he can give her money, but I can give her love.”
Blair looked at David. He was a dope but he was a lovable one. One thing she did know after all her time with Todd was that everyone had a soulmate. Dorian might be angry at David but he was her soulmate. “David, I’m going to give you some advice, Dorian is really hurting right now and she’s feeling unloved. If you mean what you just said. I think you need to go show her exactly how you feel. She’s upstairs getting ready to take a bath. I suggest you get her while she’s defenseless right now.”
David beamed at her. “My Dorian’s hurting. I know just how to cheer her up. Thanks, Blair.” He dashed out of the kitchen and she heard him overhead in record time. From above came a loud squeal, “David!” then silence.
Blair smiled and rubbed her belly. “You hear that my little darling. Uncle David is home.” She picked up the rest of the pots and set them on the counter, her thoughts straying to her own love. If only it were that easy to get Todd home. Overhead she suddenly heard laughter. “David, Oh My, Do it again!” Blair giggled.“You go David.”
After getting the pots put away Blair took a sparkling water and made her way into the living room. It had only been a week since she had been in Key West with Todd. So much had happened in that week. Her thoughts went back to Todd’s call. Victor and Clint were with Todd. It seemed unbelievable. Suddenly the cell phone in her pocket went off. It was Viki. “Hello, Viki.”
“Hi, Blair, I’m feeling a little sorry for myself today. I just tried to find out more about Clint and the doctors still insist that he’s not well enough to see. Could you perhaps join me for lunch?”
“Oh Viki, that’s too bad. Of course, I’ll meet you for lunch. Do you want to come to Shelter?”
“Well, I was kind of hoping you could join me at my home today. Cooking will help take my mind off Clint.”
“Sure, that will be fine. Shall we say one o’clock?”
“One will be perfect.”
Blair waited and heard Viki hang up, then she heard a secondary click. Someone was still monitoring calls. She turned off the phone. Should I tell her about Clint? Todd said he was okay but a little messed up because of the Organization. He didn’t say I couldn’t tell her. This is perfect. I’ll go to lunch and we’ll be able to talk in private. It felt good to be able to do something positive. She hadn’t gotten much sleep because she was worried about Todd. At least she could give Viki some good news.
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