Todd stepped past Viki and went to Clint. “Knock it off, Victor. She’s here because she’s worried about us, including you.” He reached Clint and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey old man, I think you should call it a night.” He frowned when Clint looked at him bewildered.
“Manning, is that you?” Clint shook his head again. “Where are we?”
“Easy, Clint. You’re at my place, remember? You’ve had a long day.”
Clint looked around the room for a moment. Victor was lying on the bed smirking at him, and Todd appeared upset. He spotted the food sitting on the table not far from him and suddenly everything popped back into place. “I remember...I...I was getting ready to give Victor some dinner.” He rounded to look down at Victor. “What did you do to me?”
“Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about Clint. One minute we were talking and the next, you just got this blank look on your face. I told you. You’re not well. Manning should never have taken you from the Institute.”
Viki gasped at the outright lie.
Clint turned and saw her still standing where she had come to a stop in the doorway. “Viki? You don’t believe that, do you? I’m fine, I tell you.”
Viki moved into the room and headed for Clint. “Yes, Clint, don’t worry. You’ve just been through a lot lately. Todd’s right you should probably go to bed. Come on. Show me where you’re staying.” She took Clint’s hand and helped him off the bed. His hand was clammy and he was even paler than at dinner. “Todd, if it’s alright with you, I’ll take the room next to Clint.”
Todd nodded. Viki had been right. Clint was too shaky to leave alone with Victor again. ”Go ahead. I’ll take care of Victor.” He watched as they left the room, then moved to stand above his brother. “You Bastard! Right now all I want to do is put my hands round your neck and finish the job the organization asked me to do.”
“You won’t. You had your chance in the compound and you couldn’t do it. Didn’t you say you promised Tea you’d let me live? That’s why I’m here, right?” Victor had seen the compassion Todd had shown Clint. “You really have gotten soft. Mother knew what she was doing when she put me in charge all those years ago. It’s too bad Baker made the mistake and let you escape. I got to know Baker really well these past few weeks. I even watched him work on Clint. The man’s a master at his craft. He’ll find you. I don’t care where we are, Baker will get a line on you and Alison will have her men freeing me in no time.”
Todd’s blood had started to boil when Victor mentioned Irene, but at the sound of Baker’s name, a strange sense of relief filled him. Victor had no idea Baker had worked on him too. That fact, and the fact that Victor believed Baker was faithful to the organization, was proof that Baker had hoodwinked Alison thoroughly. Bravo Baker. I hope you enjoy the hell out of my money. Todd laughed suddenly, “You have me quaking in my boots. Not! Alison and her goons have stopped searching for me. They have no reason to suspect me. They think I’m dead, but you’re the one who should worry. My guess is, they think you helped Buchanan escape. If Baker is out looking for anyone, it’s you. They probably think they failed to get you fully under control and they have no idea what a good little soldier you’ve become. But I know and you won’t get another chance to play on Clint’s mind. To quote you, you had your chance and you lost.”
Todd sat down next to his brother on the bed. He leaned in close to Victor’s head and whispered. “Mind games don’t work with me. I’m not the Organization’s puppet, and I found out today who’s in charge of your little club.”
Victor’s eyes widened as he realized what Todd was telling him. He cracked his head into Todd’s, hoping to knock him out. He had to get loose and warn the organization.
Todd, though partially dazed, reacted quickly and with one hand around Victor’s neck, he slammed his brother’s head back against the headboard. He began to squeeze and cut off Victor’s air but then saw himself losing his last breath at Victor’s hand. Abruptly he let go. “I’ve never in my life killed a man in cold blood and you won’t be the first, Victor. That’s all you, not me.”
Coughing and trying to catch his breath, Victor wheezed out. “The night you shot me was as cold-blooded as it gets.”
“So we’re back to that. Your memories and mine don’t match. I’m wondering if I ever shot you at all.” Todd reached and ripped the front of Victor’s shirt open. He sat back stunned. There was no sign that Victor had ever been shot in the chest, no old wound or scar, nothing. Todd closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. It all began to make sense. I didn’t shoot him. It was all Irene’s doing. She tampered with my mind.
Seeing Todd’s reaction, Victor sneered. “Not a pretty sight is it? You shot me and just left me to bleed to death. I look at it every day, wanting you to suffer the way I suffered for the last year.”
Todd was shocked. “Victor, there’s nothing there. What am I supposed to be seeing?”
“You’re just going to ignore what’s right in front of your eyes. You’re blind as well as crazy. I thought Clint was nuts when he was talking about imaginary needle marks, and now you’re sitting there denying the scar left in my chest by the bullet you fired into me.” Victor hated the scar over his heart. He had even kept it hidden from Tea by telling her he didn’t want to remind her of the night he died. Rage filled him as he looked at Todd. “I should have made sure you were dead before I left your room that night in Llanview. You’re nothing but a rabid dog that needs to be put down.”
Todd got off the bed and put some space between himself and his brother. “God, you have no idea how much I hate you. You and Irene stole my life for eight years and you think the one year you that were torn away from Tea makes up for that. Hell no! The only rabid dog in this room is you. I know you killed a man in Llanview, then you tried to poison me. After that you practically strangled me. For all I know, you also killed the private investigator I hired to try and find you for Tea. You’re the cold-blooded killer here. You’re also a fool.” He walked over to the bowl of stew congealing on the table. “I’m guessing you’re not hungry anymore.”
“Go to Hell!” Victor said vehemently.
Todd picked up the tray. “That’s what I thought.” He walked to the door and turned around just before exiting. “ Victor, I’m only going to say this once. You’re the one who’s blind. There’s no scar on your chest, but, your arm is covered with needle marks just like Clint’s are. They’ve gotten to you. They lied about Tea and Dani, and they led you to believe I shot you. Neither of those things happened. Think about that. By the way, if you ever belittle Viki again, I’ll tear your tongue out and feed it to you.”
Todd walked the tray back downstairs and dumped the food out. Victor wouldn’t starve missing one meal.
****
Viki walked past Victor’s room and paused. The scene from earlier wouldn’t go away. Victor had actually tried to manipulate Clint into letting him free and it hadn’t been just by reasoning with him. He had been working on Clint’s mind. It had been so deliberate. The ugly truth was, that something was terribly wrong with Victor. She shook her head and continued to Todd’s room, she needed to know everything he could tell her. The room was empty so she headed downstairs and heard activity in the kitchen. Opening the door, she saw Todd pull a beer out of the refrigerator. “Oh, how I wish I could have something like that right now. Do you have any Coffee?”
Shaking his head no, Todd looked over at his sister and removed a second bottle, and twisted the cap off.. Grabbing a glass off the shelf he poured it and handed it to her. “Here Sis, live a little, one won’t kill you. Hell, look at Clint. He’s got a new heart and he drinks the hard stuff.”
Viki shook her head. ”No, I can’t.”
“Drink it, Viki. Just a sip. It will do you good. Come on. Niki wouldn’t hesitate.”
Viki smiled a faint smile and took the glass. “Niki would rather have a scotch.”
Todd grinned. “I’ve got some of that too.” He watched her take a sip, grimace at the taste and put the drink on the counter. “Okay, I’ll make some coffee.” He turned towards the counter and began making a pot.
Viki sat down at the table. She looked around and noted that Todd had moved all the dishes to the sink and had turned off the stew. “Did Victor eat anything?”
“No,” Todd said tersely, his hand clenching around the coffee pot for a moment.
She could hear the anger in Todd’s voice. “What happened after I took Clint out of the room?”
Todd put the coffee on, grabbed his beer, and turned back to his sister.“I didn’t kill him if that’s what you’re asking. He’s a fool and the biggest problem is, he’s a brainwashed one.”
“You wouldn’t kill him. I know that. You know he’s been damaged by them the same way they damaged Clint. You know what he’s been through because you’ve been through it. Isn’t that right?” She saw the pain in Todd’s eyes before they dropped.
Todd drained his beer and picked up Viki’s glass, taking another big gulp. “Yes. I know,” he said grimly. “Viki, this organization is trouble. What they’ve done to Victor and Clint are small potatoes. I found out today who’s behind Alison. It’s a good thing you’re sitting down because you’re not going to believe this. Carl Peterson is the man who put all this in motion.”
“That can’t be. The man is a well-known philanthropist. He’s also a confidant and friend of the President. Why on earth would he be helping Alison? Surely you’re mistaken.”
“I wish I was. Viki, think about it. You said yourself he has the friendship of the President. That means he has power. Why would he help Alison? That’s easy. They’re brother and sister.”
“My God, that woman is his sister? This is all so bewildering. You say Alison’s been running this compound. When did you find out Clint was there?”
“Well, I got word from my inside man at the compound that I was right about Victor being there, and I remembered a day when I saw another man delivered there. It was shortly after Clint had his meltdown. From the things my contact told me about the man, I finally figured out it might be Clint. Blair and I had a long talk the last time I saw her and she made me realize that my contact might be playing both sides. That’s when I decided to go into the compound.” Todd chugged the rest of the beer and set the glass on the counter. He leaned back against the counter, taking a moment to rub his forehead as a headache started to form.. All the adrenaline that had flowed through him when he confronted Victor was gone. Wearily he looked at his sister. “You were right. Clint is shakier than I thought he was. I should have known he wasn’t up to watching Victor.”
Viki knew how hard it was for Todd to admit when he was wrong. “Blair told me you’ve been having trouble sleeping. You’ve taken on a lot the last couple of days. It terrifies me knowing you went back into the place where Irene held you.”
“How did you..?” Todd looked at her in surprise.
“Blair told me that, too. She’s worried about you and so am I. That’s why I’m staying Todd. Clint needs to have time to recover properly. I’ve already made arrangements to stay down here for a while. The Banner is holding its own. Nigel believed the cover story as did my editors at the paper. I’m here working with you on more financial matters. No one will know the real reason for my absence from Llanview.”
Todd cleared his voice. He had to make one more plea to get Viki to go home. “You saw Victor. He’s not going to give up trying to get back to the Organization. I thought if I had a little time with him, he would snap out of it, but they’ve got too strong a hold on him. If he gets free, he could hurt you and I’d never forgive myself.”
“Look at you. You’re totally exhausted. Here you are trying to help Clint and get through to Victor. Judging by how late you arrived home this evening, you’re still keeping on top of your new company too. You’re spreading yourself so thin you’re going to collapse. You need my help. Now I find out this news about Carl Peterson. We need to get Bo involved. If not him, then let me get Jeffrey looking into Carl.”
“Hell No, Viki. That’s the last person you should be talking to. Now that we know Peterson’s behind this, we can’t trust anyone who’s close to him. This Jeffrey, he arrived in town the same night I did, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he had just given me the Dorian Lord Story and came to town to follow up on it.”
“Awfully convenient that he arrived in town on the same night Dani overdosed.“
“Wait, you think he might have had something to do with Dani’s overdose.”
“I don’t know Viki, but how coincidental is it that he also knew her from London. Let’s look at the story he got you. Why bring it to you when he could have given it to any one of the national papers?”
“He brought it to me because Dorian was a Pennsylvania senator.”
“Okay, maybe. But he never told you his source. What if one of Peterson’s well-place friends gave him the story and he was encouraged to bring it to you? I’m sorry, I don’t trust the guy. He got close to this family, way too fast. He has an in with you, with Matthew, and with Dani. Matthew knew about Dani using Oxi and Bo supposedly had her stash, yet she still overdosed after partying with Matthew and Jeffrey. I know Bo thinks someone else did it but can we be sure? I don’t think I can anymore. For the time being, we can’t get anyone else involved. No one can find out about Clint or Victor, especially anyone connected to Peterson.”
“What aren’t you telling me about Peterson?” Viki asked. Todd was being evasive and she wanted to know why.
Todd turned back to the shelf and got two coffee cups down. He carefully poured the cups and brought them over to the table, setting one down in front of Viki. He sat down across from her. “I found out some interesting stuff concerning the compound. Believe me, if what I believe is true, this is going to upset a lot of applecarts. Are you sure you’re up to hearing this?”
“Todd, I’ve survived dying three times and you’ve survived more than that. Just tell me what you’ve found out.” She picked up her coffee and sat back in her chair, knowing it was going to be a long night.
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THIS WAS GREAT. GOOD WRITERS KEEP THEIR READERS WANTING MORE. I WANT MORE
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