“Hey, I’m working on it, but I figured you’d want to know as soon as possible that he was Alison Perkins’ brother.” Sam leaned across the desk. “Look. You don’t know just how far he’s gone to keep that relationship under wraps. We had it all wrong. He’s Alison’s older brother, not younger. It’s not like he wants people to know his affiliation with a nut case. I was actually surprised Alison’s father even managed to snag Peterson’s mother. There was a lot of ‘Old Money’ behind her and from what I was able to gather when Carl Peterson was born, his mother was forced to cut all ties with Warden Perkins. He had no further contact with his father or his younger sister as he was growing up. His grandparents had his last name changed to protect him.”
Todd suddenly had an idea. “‘Old Money’ huh. Maybe that’s it. What if this organization is run by Old Money? Heck even New Money. Victor Lord could be considered Old Money and Asa Buchanan wasn’t Old Money but he was considered powerful even though he was part of the Nouveau Riche. They were both movers and shakers. If this organization is made up of men like that, then it would explain their interest in Victor and me, as well as Buchanan.”
Sam moved around Todd’s desk and sat down on the edge, inches away from him. She leaned in closer to him, giving him an upfront look at her assets. “Hmm, you know it could be worth looking into.”
Todd always appreciated the lengths Sam went to, to get his attention. It was obvious, she was up to her old tricks. She was still a beautiful woman and had made a play for him on more than one occasion, but there was only one woman who had his heart. After a cursory look, Todd leaned back away from her and frowned. “Sam, what’s with all the come-ons? I thought I made it clear to you in LA that this was to be a purely business arrangement.”
Sam smiled beguilingly. “Ah, Come on, Tony, it’s not like you have any other action going on. Todd Manning is presumed dead and you’ve got a whole new identity and life. You’re all alone, Mr. Butler, and so am I. I just figured we could start something, now that that life is over.“ She reached over and ran her index finger down his arm.
Todd brushed her finger away. “Knock it off! It isn’t going to happen, so get your head back in the game.” He coldly met her gaze and she dropped her eyes and moved back around the desk.
“Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying. So what do you want me to do next?” She turned back to him. She had made her play and had failed. As a pragmatist, she had known it was a longshot but she had felt it was worth the try. Now it was back to business. “Okay, Boss. What do you want me to do?”
“See if Asa Buchanan or my bastard father ever had any dealings with Peterson’s family. If they did, we might get an inkling just who we’re dealing with. I’m going to see if I can find out if my brother had any other unsavory alliances besides our Mother.”
Sam gave a perfunctory salute. “I’ll get right on it tomorrow. If I can’t get you to have some fun, I’m at least going to take the night off and enjoy some good Jazz down in the Quarter. I took the red-eye to get that information to you, so the rest of the day is mine. Any objections?”
Todd was anxious for the info, but Sam was her own boss and even if he objected she probably would still do her own thing. “Whatever. Just get back to me soon with what you find out. Clear?”
“Clear.” Sam walked back to the couch and picked up her purse. As she opened the door, she turned and looked back at him. “Sure I can’t convince you to meet me later?” She laughed at the glare she received and left the office.
****
“Are you telling me Baker has now disappeared?” Carl almost threw his glass of brandy against the wall but stopped himself. Getting control he continued. “What’s that? He hasn’t disappeared, you just don’t know where he went after he left the compound. Alli, what do you know?”
Alison took a deep breath. She could hear her brother’s barely contained anger and knew she needed to diffuse the situation. “Carl, relax. Baker told me he was going to go and do some investigating. He said he had some info from his old days working for Irene Manning, and he might be able to come up with a lead as to the whereabouts of Victor Lord. Before leaving, he assured me that Lord’s programming was unbreakable.”
“I see. That’s what Irene told me about her son Todd, but you know how that went. Why didn’t you insist Baker take some of our men?”
“He told me he would need to contact some of his CIA friends and I didn’t think you wanted any of our men to come in contact with those people. I had no idea he had to go off the map to do his investigating.. I’m sure he’ll be in contact when he gets the information he’s looking for.”
“You better hope he does. Alli, I hope you understand that if the CIA comes down on you, you’re on your own.” Carl’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. “Sister or not, the goal of the organization is foremost. No one can stand in the way of our progress and when you joined me, you knew the risks.”
Alison felt chilled by her brother’s comment, but then she straightened her back.“Don’t worry Carl, there’s nothing official tying you, or the organization, to this compound. I will burn this place to the ground before I let the Government flunkies find anything. I wanted to let you know the Messenger’s followers are stepping up their efforts around Llanview, but so far there has been no sign of Victor Lord or Clint Buchanan in the area. Do you have anything else you wish me to do? The shipment from the other night should be reaching it’s destination today.”
Carl poured himself another drink. His anger had cooled and there were more important things that now needed to be discussed. “Very good. Are your disciples in place in DC?”
“Yes, even as we speak, special gift packages are being prepared. They await the shipment and when they are completed, they will be delivered to all those you requested. By week’s end, all those parties will be yours to control.”
“Excellent, Alison. I’m sorry I was so upset earlier. You have proven invaluable to the organization. Lord and his brother Manning have been thorns in our side long enough. Whether Lord returns or not will be moot once I have control in DC. I’ll be headed back to Llanview tonight. I left rather abruptly and I might have to mend some fences with Dorian Lord.”
“Gag, brother. The woman is power hungry and not worth your attention. Why did you even start up with her? She married Mitch just to get her hands on the Lord fortune and then she tried to kill him. You would have been better off with the Queen of Llanview, Victoria Lord.”
“Now Alli, that isn’t nice. You know as well as I, that Victoria Lord is off limits and besides, it amuses me that Dorian and Victoria don’t get along. Dorian is a beautiful woman and graces my arm and she’s as devious as they come. I have a feeling when the time comes she’ll make a promising first lady.”
****
Todd swung back to his desk as soon as Sam departed. If his father Victor Lord had any dealings with Carl Peterson’s family, she would find it. He had other, more urgent, matters to check on. He had broken open a hornet's nest when he had rescued Clint and removed Victor from the compound, and they had already been stirred up by his rescue of Sid. He needed to know if Sid and his family had made it to South Dakota safely. He pressed his assistant’s call button. “Phil, get me Rogers at the drilling site.” A few minutes later. his phone rang.
“Rogers, good, how’s it going up there? That’s terrific, does it look like a good-size strike?... Great... Listen, about that man I sent to you, did he and his family get settled alright? That’s good. They’ve had it pretty rough recently, but he’s a good worker. Send me the latest reports on the strike and I’ll be seeing you in a couple of weeks.” Todd hung up and made a note to get a few little things sent to Sid’s brother and sister, just to make the move easier. Rogers said some of the wives of the other men had already taken Sid’s younger sister under their wings.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Sid’s family was okay and now he could put his attention back where it was needed. The compound had to be in an uproar. First, the sheriff's office had shown up and was investigating the disappearance of one man and now two other men had disappeared. It had to really be tying Alison up in knots. “I wonder. Did you call your brother, Alison? What does he think about everything that’s happened? He can’t be too happy right now.”
Todd looked at his picture of Blair and thought about calling her. She should be told Carl Peterson was Alison’s brother. She would want to know, with Dorian dating the guy. He picked up the phone and stopped. What if Dorian already knows? No, she’s enamored with his power and wealth, but she’d never put Blair or the family in danger. Peterson was another story. He believed no one knew of his association with Alison. Blair would be safer if she didn’t know. He put the phone back down. He reached for her picture. “I’m sorry Babe. I know how you hate it when I keep things from you, but it’s for your own good and that of the baby. Peterson’s capable of hurting you if he finds out you know his secret.” Todd hated the position he was now in. It wasn’t just Blair and the kids, Viki was also involved. Peterson had associates everywhere. What if his protege was involved with the organization? The young man worked with Viki.
Face it, Todd, you’ve got to expose this guy and quickly. He opened a window on his computer to a tracking program. He had managed to put a couple of tracking devices on some of the crates going out from the compound during all the commotion surrounding Sid’s mistake. His eyes widened as the information came up. “This is curious. Why are you sending crates to DC, Alison? Just what is going on? I understand the mind-controlling drugs to the Psychiatric wing at Llanview hospital, but what use are they in the capital.” A shiver went through him. “God! No way!” Was it possible that this organization was after much bigger fish? Could Clint have an idea what was really going on? There was only one way to find out. It was time to have a chat with Clint again.
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