Sam pulled the phone out and handed the purse back. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Vickers, but we can’t let you make any calls right now.”
Dorian looked up and saw two men walk up behind Todd. “I get it. Now I’m a hostage too. You think she’ll come if I’m in trouble, too.”
Todd shook his head, the more Dorian talked the more absurd everything became. He started laughing. “Oh, Dorian, you have no idea.”
“Don’t laugh at me, you barbarian. I demand you show me, Tony Butler.” Dorian angrily stomped her foot.
Todd just roared with laughter hysterically. He couldn’t stop, so he waved a hand down to Sam and managed to speak a few words in between the laughing. “You tell her.”
Sam looked at Todd sharply and realized he was at the end of his rope. He needed to get some sleep but had been pushing through the hours waiting for Dorian to come and hopefully save Victor’s life. “Mrs. Vickers, please calm down. No one is holding Tony Butler prisoner. Todd is Tony Butler.”
Dorian swung around to face Sam. “What did you say?”
“I said, Todd is Tony Butler. And we’ve been expecting you. Todd knew you would never come to help him so he called Blair.”
Dorian was confused. She looked up the stairs and took a good look at Todd. He was against the rail and she noted how pale he was. Even his laughter sounded oddly out of control. Only one man was standing by him now, the other had gone back down the hallway. “You’re Tony Butler?”
Todd found himself leaning heavily on the rail as he got his laughter under control. He felt drained. He nodded in answer to Dorian’s question and forced himself away from the banister. “Dorian, I hate to say this, but I need your help.”
She was stunned. Dorian had never expected Todd to ask for her help. “Why? You don’t look so good but it’s obvious you don’t really need a doctor. And let’s face it, Todd, you and I have always hated each other. What’s going on here?” Just then she heard a familiar voice ring out.
“Todd, Help!”
Todd turned and rushed down the hallway toward the sound of Viki’s voice. He rushed into the room. “Viki, what is it?”
“He stopped breathing. Help him!”
Todd moved to his brother’s side and lowered him flat on the bed. “Come on, you son of a bitch, don’t you wimp out on me! You’re really going to let a little ole bullet do you in?” Todd got no response and didn’t really expect any. “Damn it!” He started breathing for his brother.
Dorian and Sam had both hurried up the stairs at Viki’s call. Dorian stood in the doorway assessing the picture in front of her. Todd was trying to perform CPR on Victor and Viki was standing anxiously aside. She heard a door open to her right and out walked Clint Buchanan. She felt like she had entered the Twilight Zone. Todd, Victor, and Clint in the same household, something was definitely going on.
Todd obviously was trying to save Victor which surprised Dorian to no end, but it was clear he didn’t have a lot of experience. She moved to the bed. “Todd, go to the other side and pay attention. Put your hands like this and press down when I tell you.” She tilted Victor’s head and began to breathe into his mouth a number of times then she had Todd do the compressions. After a few minutes, she had Sam take over for her and began checking his pulse. “Okay, we have a pulse. It’s very weak, though.” She took in the bandages and looked up at Todd. “Well, at least you were smart enough to stop the bleeding. How much did he lose?
“A lot. We did everything we could. He was doing okay until just now.” Todd glanced at Sam and Viki and continued his compressions. Had he made a mistake? Should he have gotten a Doctor sooner?
Dorian scowled at Todd and continued to monitor Victor’s pulse. The beat started picking up, Victor coughed and started breathing on his own again.
“Thank God,” said Viki.
Clint who had been watching the whole thing walked to Viki’s side. “Viki, how did Victor get shot? He was fine when I brought up his dinner, and how the hell did Dorian get here?”
Viki’s eyes met Todd’s and then she turned to Clint. “It was an accident. Todd sent for Dorian early this morning. She very obligingly came to help.”
Dorian hadn’t missed the look that passed between Todd and Viki. “More like I was hijacked really?” She mumbled under her breath. “Okay, you got me here and I’m guessing you don’t want the authorities involved. Even if I help you, what makes you think I won’t call them when I’m finished, or are you going to kidnap me after all?”
Todd sank back on his legs. He was so tired. “Dorian, I’m not going to kidnap you. You’re right, we can’t bring the police in on this. This is bigger than you think. What you decide in the next few minutes will affect not only us here but Blair and the children, too. They’re all in danger if we get found and you can include Tea, Dani, and Natalie to the list too. Listen, I promise to fill you in on everything, but we need to save Victor first.”
“Everything?”
“Everything. So what do you say? You and I both know what Victor needs and we can’t exactly take him to an emergency room to do it.”
Dorian took a deep breath and exhaled. As a doctor, she took an oath and for some reason, she didn’t understand, she believed Todd when he said Blair and the boys were in danger. “Alright. The most important thing now is to get some more blood into Victor. Todd that means you have to be the donor. Although since you went to all the trouble to get me down here, I’m sure you already figured that out. Lie down next to Victor and let’s get this show on the road.”
A short while later, Dorian stood looking down at the two men. After initially hooking up Todd to his first bag, she took the trouble to check him out.
“Hey, I gave you permission to use my blood. I didn’t give you permission to examine me. Leave me alone Dorian.”
“It looks to me like you do need my examination. From those bruises on your neck, I’d say Victor throttled you pretty good. Did you lose consciousness?”
“Yeah, just for a short time but I’m fine. The neck is sore, that’s all, so leave me alone.” Todd closed his eyes, cutting the conversation and inwardly praying that was the end of it.
Dorian let the matter drop and waited for the first bag to fill. She was still trying to digest everything that had occurred since her arrival. All this time, she had thought Todd Manning was finally and irrevocably out of Blair’s life and it turned out nothing could be farther from the truth. Why all the need for subterfuge? Why had Todd left in the first place and then re-established himself as Tony Butler? She glanced over to the corner of the room where Viki and Clint had ended up. “I’ve got some questions and I might as well get some answers while we wait. How long have you known, Viki?”
“How long have I known what, Dorian?” Viki asked.
“You know what. How long have you known that Todd wasn’t dead? Why did you keep it a secret? Just what is going on? Clint is supposed to be in the hospital. What’s he doing here and where the hell did Victor come from?”
Viki sighed. “I’ve known about Todd for a couple of months. And I came here yesterday when I found out Todd had rescued Clint.”
“What do you mean rescue? I thought Clint was in the hospital because of his breakdown on the night of the Man of the Year award.”
Clint got up and moved toward Dorian. “I’m not unstable, Dorian. That she-devil Alison Perkins shot me up with something and took me out of Llanview hospital shortly after that. Manning found me a couple of days ago and got me out of the place where they’ve been holding me. We had to bring Victor with us because he caught us leaving and he was working for the ones who held me.” He rolled up his sleeve. “Look, they kept me drugged and messed with me. But I’m not crazy.”
Dorian’s eyes widened and she took another look at Clint. His arm was tracked with needle marks, but he seemed perfectly aware of what was happening around him. Still, her trained eyes saw the perspiration beading on his forehead and the slight nervous tick around his one eye.. If he was telling the truth. He was far from over the effects of whatever they had drugged him with. “Could you tell me who shot Victor?”
“I don’t know….” Clint paused and swayed a little bit. Viki rushed to him. “I… I heard scuffling and voices in the hall. Viki was pleading with Victor, then there was quiet. When I looked out of my room, Victor had his back to me and was talking on the phone to Tea. Viki was on the floor next to Todd who wasn’t moving. I went and grabbed the gun we had taken off of Victor and snuck up quietly behind him. When he saw Todd begin to move, he decided to try and make his escape and I stopped him. I was holding the gun on him and suddenly I was hearing him tell me he was going to take me back to the compound,... words kept reverberating in my head…’the organization must be protected at all cost’...I...I...Oh, God. I pulled the trigger...I...” he turned to Viki. “I did this, didn’t I?
Viki had tears in her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. He had been manipulating you all day. You weren’t in your right mind. But he’s alive. Dorian’s here and we’re going to save him. I think you and I will go find Sam Vance. Maybe you can try and remember some more about the compound that will help Sam with her investigation. Dorian, the rest of your questions will have to wait.” Viki didn’t even give Dorian a chance to say anything else. Instead, she took Clint’s arm and herded him out the door and away from Dorian.
Todd had been listening to everything and he started to chuckle. Viki sure knew how to stop Dorian cold when she wanted to. “Did you hear what you expected Dorian? I’m guessing not. You thought I shot Victor again didn’t you?” He lowered his arm and found Dorian glaring angrily at him. “Take a good look at my brother.”
Todd’s words jolted her and her eyes immediately went to Victor’s chest. What was Todd getting at? She had already checked the gunshot wounds. Sam Vance and Todd had done a fair job of sewing Victor up. She looked at Victor and suddenly realized something wasn’t right. Where was it? Where was the gunshot scar from Todd? Blair told her Victor had been shot in the heart, but there was nothing. She looked back at Todd. “But you shot him. You were on trial for his murder. I don’t understand.”
“Join the club. I knew I didn’t kill him but I was having hallucinations of my mother and with them came images of shooting Victor. I can’t explain. I think Irene tampered with my memory when we were in jail together. It’s the only explanation I’ve got. The organization that spirited Victor away obviously staged a very realistic scene. So realistic, Tea thought Victor died in her arms.”
“So you didn’t try and kill your brother, but I know you, Todd. I know what you’re capable of. You’ve always been violent. That’s why I’ve wanted Blair to stay away from you.”
“That was the old me. Irene did a number on me. I admit that, and yes, I did have Tomas kidnapped. But, I wasn’t thinking straight and I was desperate to get Blair back. You just can’t stand the idea that Blair is still in love with me and that she tricked you into coming here. I’ll be honest, she was reluctant to trick you. She loves you but I assured her I would tell you the whole story and I will. Dorian, you have no idea what’s been going on since I arrived back in Llanview.”
Dorian hated the idea that Todd had gotten back into Blair’s life, but she also knew how happy Blair was about the baby she was carrying. “I swear Todd Manning, if you think you can spin some lie and expect me to just let you keep up this charade, you’ve got another think coming. You ran out on Blair again. I can’t understand how you got her to accept Tony Butler and why is all of this subterfuge so necessary? Explain it, then we’ll see if I keep your secret.” she paused, checked the exchange of blood going into Victor, and glanced back to Todd.
Todd sighed. “Very well, but listen up because I’m too tired to tell this story twice.”
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