Dorian sat in the chair across from her patients, mulling over everything Todd had told her before falling asleep. She had been stunned as the story had unfolded. It had been a shock to find out Blair had been targeted by the Organization. It all seemed so unbelievable- a secret organization operating in Llanview, and Clint being drugged and kidnapped right from under the LPD’s noses. The hardest pill to swallow was hearing that Carl Peterson was behind it all.
She got up and wandered over to the window. It was getting close to noon and the neighborhood where the mansion sat was bustling with activity. She looked back to the bed at the man she had hated for a long time. “You’re an old fool, Dorian. You let your hatred for his father color your opinion of him for a long time. He loves Blair and you know she loves him. It’s time to give him a break. Admit it, you’ve been jealous all these years because what they have is something you’ve never gotten.” She heard movement behind her and found Viki standing there.
Viki looked at her briefly and then moved to the bed. “Are they alright? Is Victor going to live?”
Dorian stared at Viki for a moment. “You heard what I said, didn’t you?” Why aren’t you gloating.”
Viki sat down in the chair and picked up the damp cloth off the nightstand and proceeded to wipe off Victor’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Dorian.” Viki reached to move some hair off Victor’s face, letting her fingers come in contact with his skin briefly. She looked over at Dorian. “Victor’s awfully warm don’t you think?”
Dorian moved closer and checked on him. She then lifted the edge of the bandage on his chest. “Damn, the wound is infected. I’m going to have to reopen it and clean it out. I can’t believe you didn’t call for help, Viki?”
“You know why we didn’t. Are you going to report this, now that you know the whole story?“ Viki continued to cool off her brother.
From the other side of Victor, Todd asked. “Yes, Dorian, did you make a decision?”
Dorian glanced at him and back to Viki. “I’ll keep quiet, but on one condition. If you’re going after Carl, I want to help. I’m tired of being made a fool of. First the senior senators, now Carl, enough is enough.”
Todd started to get off the bed and almost ended up flat on the floor. He gripped the edge of the bed until the room stopped spinning. “Whoa. Hey, how much blood did you take, you vampire?”
“Todd!” Viki exclaimed.
Dorian smiled, “Well I thought about draining you, but you left a foul taste in my mouth,” she emphasized her words and overdid the smiling.
Todd laughed “Good One.” He stood up slowly. “I’m starved. Viki, what’s for lunch?”
Viki shook her head. “You two might want to learn to play nice together if we’re going to go to war.” She gestured to her brother. “You, just sit back down. I’ll get both of you some lunch and then we all need to figure out our next move.”
Todd slumped in the chair watching Dorian go to work on Victor. “If he needs any antibiotics one of Sam’s men can go get it. I… Dorian, thanks.”
“If you want to thank me, get over here and help. Did it occur to you to clean his wounds before you stitched him up?”
Todd got up and moved around the bed. “I’m not an idiot. I remember what you had Blair do to clean and stitch my wound and if you remember, I still got sick. Besides, Victor was in the same place as Clint. Sure he was working for the Organization when I found Clint, but before that, he was getting the same treatment. You saw Clint. He’s still recovering. I’m betting Victor probably still has some drugs left in his system, too. Maybe they’re part of the problem, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. I’m here, what do you need?”
Dorian sighed. “Look, just get ready to apply pressure if he starts bleeding excessively.” She handed Todd several gauze pads and began opening the wound.
Todd watched as Dorian efficiently worked. The wound was red and angry and when Dorian opened it, Todd’s stomach objected a little. He blinked, swallowed hard, and got back to the business of helping his wife’s aunt. He was suddenly grateful he still hadn’t eaten. Dorian was covering the wound back up when Viki and Clint entered the room with trays. She excused herself and went to wash her hands. Todd took the tray from Viki and set it on the nightstand and turned back to his sister. “Tell me you got some sleep.”
Viki nodded. “Ms. Vance and Clint insisted. They assured me they would wake me if anything bad occurred.”
Todd turned to Clint. “Thanks. What about you, Clint? I know what you’re thinking. You think the Organization still has a hold on you. Don’t go there. I think they were still working on you because you weren’t falling into line as quickly as they would have liked. You’re a tough old coot. Asa would be proud. And Victor, well, in a way he deserved this like Viki said. He had all day to work on you. We’re lucky you held out as long as you did.”
Clint ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not as strong as I thought I was. The thought that I almost let Victor get you, and take me back to that place, scares the shit out of me.”
“Forget it. Believe me, I understand.” Todd knew what bothered Clint. He hadn’t been able to put behind his experience there either. He let the subject drop and sat down to eat.
Dorian had walked in while Clint was talking. “Clint, I think you should let me check you out too.“
“No way Dorian. I’ve had all the probing and prodding I can stand. Todd thinks the drugs will get out of my system and I’m willing to wait. I just guess I won’t be doing anymore babysitting.”
Dorian nodded and took the tray Clint had been holding and sat down to eat. She suddenly realized she was famished.
****
After lunch, Viki went to the kitchen to clean up and Clint offered to help. Todd left Victor in Dorian’s care and went looking for Sam Vance. He found her in the library with a number of papers surrounding her. “What’s all this?”
“This is what you ordered me to get you yesterday morning. One of my operatives faxed it to your office this morning and Philippa brought it over. Don’t worry, I told her you caught a bug while out of town and called me over to talk. She said to tell you she would hold down the fort.”
Todd sat down and picked up one of the sheets. “All of these are people from old money or the exceedingly wealthy who have ties to Asa, my father Victor, and Carl?”
“Yes, there are a few other rather influential men included in here. There are a couple of Senators, and you won’t believe it, but the under-secretary to the Chief of Staff too. They all seem to be linked together in one fashion or another to Carl Peterson.”
“Interesting. One of those senators wouldn’t be the senior senator of Pennsylvania, by any chance?”
“Yes, how did you know?” Sam looked up in surprise.
“Just a hunch. Let me see the files on the senators. If I’m right, I think Dorian will have more than Carl Peterson to go after.” Todd took the files and wandered over to a tray of fruit and juice Viki had set out for everyone. Grabbing an apple, he made his way back to a chair by the window and dropped down into it, and began reading. As he suspected, the two senators, who had used Dorian as their scapegoat, were close friends of Carl Peterson. Todd looked up from his reading. “Sam, did your men get anything on the location I gave them for the drugs sent out from the compound?”
Sam put down the paper she was reading and answered.“Only that it’s a warehouse in downtown Washington DC. Why?”
“We need to get some of that drug. After the last few days, I’m guessing access to the compound here in Louisiana will no longer be an option. If I know Alison, she’s probably got the place sealed shut. The only ones getting in and out of there will be people she knows she can trust.”
Sam could no longer contain her curiosity. “I know I shouldn’t be surprised at how you were able to get Clint and Victor out of that place but tell me, what possessed you to go in alone? “
Todd smiled. “I went in because I had a gut feeling my inside man might be double-dealing. I was right. Once I found out I couldn’t trust him, I knew I had to try and get Clint and Victor out on my own. The night I tagged the drugs, I also helped a friend leave the compound. To keep my friend from being tracked down by the organization, I staged an incident that brought the police to the front door of the compound the next day and gave me the diversion I needed to enter. The rest you know.”
Sam was impressed. “So what happened to your inside man?”
“He’s gone. He had an opportunity to disappear and took it. The funny thing about that is Alison still has no idea he skipped on them. But like I said, she knows Clint and Victor are out here now and she’s going to be looking for them, more than likely expecting them to head for Llanview. I need to keep it that way.”
He got back up and walked to get some coffee. He took a sip, images, of barely being able to get a breath and Viki standing next to him telling him how she got Victor to stop killing him, flashed through his memory. He turned back to Sam. “Victor talked to Tea last night, but I think Tea probably is smart enough to keep her conversation with him a secret. The fact that we had no visitors from the organization last night tells me they still don’t have any idea I’m here. Until Victor wakes up, I have no idea where his mind is now. Ever since I brought him out of the compound he’s done nothing but want to go back there. He was trying to escape and do just that last night. I’m hoping when he does wake up, he’ll remember he talked to Tea and maybe begin to believe what Clint and I’ve been trying to tell him.”
“So, do you think he’s going to live?”
“Hell yes! There’s just something about us Lords, we hate to die.”
****
Victor came awake slowly. He cracked his eyes open just enough to see he was still in Todd’s house. The last thing he remembered was talking to his wife... “Tea!” He started to get up and felt intense pain radiating through his upper body and collapsed back on the bed with a groan.
“Easy, Victor.” Dorian put a hand on the uninjured shoulder trying to make sure her patient remained still. She looked into his surprised eyes. “Yes, it’s me. Your scoundrel of a brother got me down here under false pretenses. He said he promised to bring you back to Tea alive. Although for the life of me, I don’t see what she and Blair see in you two.” She put a glass of water to his lips. “Here, drink. We need to get some fluids into you. You lost a lot of blood. Of course, that’s why I’m here, Todd donated some of his blood to you to keep you alive but he needed my assistance to do it.”
Victor was lost in thought after hearing Tea’s name from Dorian. All he could think of was hearing Tea’s voice and now another person was telling him she was alive and well. Dorian’s insistence that he drink, brought him out of his reverie. As he took a sip of the water he caught the tail end of her statement. “Todd did what?” He couldn’t have heard her right. He had just tried for the second time to strangle his brother. “No way, I don’t believe it, the guy wants me dead.”
“Yes, well I’ve never understood what motivates Todd. All I know is that you have two pints of his blood in you. I’m glad you’re awake. Care to tell me your side of this story?”
Victor looked at her warily, then dropped his eyes and touched his bandages. He struggled to clear his muddled thoughts and he kept trying to wrap his head around the fact that Todd saved him. Everything was mixed up. The brother he had tried to kill had once again surprised him. Just what had Todd and Viki told Dorian?
He took a deep breath. He knew he could spin a tale, but he couldn’t shake the fact that Todd had kept him alive. He hadn’t imagined talking to Tea. He clearly remembered the conversation and even Dorian acted like Tea was fine. If Tea is alive, Todd was right. They lied to you. Alison, all of them, they lied to you, and Todd’s been telling the truth. You’re an idiot. Don’t complicate this. If Todd is on the level then you need to hear him out. Don’t give her anything she can use against him. His eyes met Dorian’s and he sarcastically replied. “Really Dorian, I’m disappointed. You used to be so sharp. Isn’t it obvious? I got shot, end of story.”
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