Todd's Saga 31: After Effects

         Blair looked up from her place behind the bar and saw storm clouds headed her way.  She braced herself for the onslaught.

Tea was seething. She saw Blair and made her way to the bar like a little tornado. “Why have you been ignoring me?!” she said as she slammed her clutch on the bar.  Tea was frustrated, and tired.  She hadn’t slept a wink since talking to Victor and all her calls to Viki’s phone had been fruitless.  She had just left Llanfair and found out Viki was out of town and Nigel had proven reluctant to give out any news regarding Viki’s whereabouts.  Now, she confronted her friend. “I’ve been trying to call you all day and all I keep getting is your voicemail.  What’s going on, Blair?” 

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Blair feigned surprise. “You’ve been trying to call me.  That’s impossible.  My cell hasn’t rung all day.”  She pulled it out of her pocket.  “Oh, it’s still turned off. I shut it off last night.  I was getting telemarketer calls in the middle of the night.  I guess I forgot to turn it on again.  Gosh, I’m sorry, Tea.  What’s got you in such a tizzy?”

Tea glared at Blair.  “Don’t give me that.  You’ve been avoiding my calls and I want to know why.  Something happened last night and I have this feeling you know about it.  Now spill!” 

“Calm down.  You’ll blow a gasket.  I don’t have any idea what’s got you so mad.  I said I was sorry about the phone.” Blair poured Tea a wine and set it in front of her. “Sit down and slowly tell me what happened that has you all upset.”  Blair watched as Tea took a huge gulp and then set the glass down, all the while staring at her suspiciously.  Needing to break Tea’s gaze, she poured herself a glass and walked around the bar and took a seat next to her friend.  Tea’s eyes had followed her but then dropped to the glass of wine and she had taken another drink. Blair could see the tension leave Tea’s shoulders as she took a third sip.  “Do you feel better now?  Tell me what got you so riled up.”

Tea looked around for a minute and then leaned in close to Blair.  “Victor called me last night,” she whispered. 

        The sound of the music in the club drowned out her voice and Blair picked up the bottle of wine and grabbed Tea’s hand pulling her toward the back lounge where they could talk. Once there, Blair steered Tea toward a quiet corner she knew wasn’t bugged by the people keeping an eye on her and the club.  “Did I hear you right?  Did you say Victor called you?”

        “Yes, but that’s what’s weird.  The call came from Viki’s cell phone and it wasn’t Viki.  Victor began talking to me and he wouldn’t tell me where he was or why he was using Viki’s phone and then the call ended.  Since then, everytime I’ve tried Viki’s phone it’s gone to voicemail.  I just came from Llanfair and Nigel would only say Viki was out of town on business.”

        “I don’t like it, Tea.  Are you sure it was Victor?  Could it be someone just wanted you to think it was him?”

        “Blair, are you listening to me?  The call came from Viki’s phone.  Besides, I know my husband’s voice.  I don’t know why he had Viki’s phone but it has to mean he’s been in touch with her.”

        “Maybe.  Or maybe he stole Viki’s phone and she didn’t know it.  Let me call Nigel.  He might have some other news now.”  Blair pulled out her cell and called Llanfair. “Nigel, this is important.  Viki told me yesterday she was going out of town on business.  Tell me you’ve heard from her.”  She listened intently  “I see.  So she’s alright.  Thank you.“  Blair hung up and looked across at her friend.   She hated lying but until she heard otherwise from Todd, Tea needed to remain in the dark.  “Nigel just told me he received a call from Viki after you left.  It seems she  lost her phone somewhere between here and her destination.  It looks like Victor found a way to get it without her knowing about it.”

       Tea visibly slumped as her hopes deflated like a bad balloon. “Then we still have no idea where he is.” Her free hand clutched her purse seeking something to hold onto.

       Blair leaned forward and placed her hand atop her friend’s.  “That’s true, but if you’re right and the call you got was from Victor, it means he’s not being held by the organization any longer.  That’s a good thing.”  She felt she had to give Tea some hope.  Todd still hadn’t called. Until he did, she had no idea if Victor had survived the night.  “Look, you’ve exhausted yourself worrying about him all night, you’re welcome to just chill with me for a while.”  Just then, Dani and Arturo walked into the back room. The young woman was laughing and hanging all over him.  Tea tensed and looked ready to take on her daughter. Blair held onto Tea’s hand. “Hey, don’t do it, all right?  You’re too worked up about Victor.  Now’s not the time to confront Dani.”

        Tea forced herself to look away from her daughter and turned to look at Blair.  Her glare was frosty, and to Blair the room temperature dropped several degrees. “Don’t tell me what to do when it comes to Dani.  She’s my daughter.  Maybe you should concern yourself with Jack and that teacher he’s been spending all his time with.”  She pulled her hand free and got up and walked out, leaving a stunned Blair in her wake.

****

“You’re not listening to me.  I’m the best chance you’ve got if you want to get some of Carl’s shipment.   The people in Washington that work for Alison know me and probably have no idea she’s looking for me.  If I show up and tell them she sent me to provide extra security, they’re not going to question it.” Victor leaned back against his pillows.  Arguing with Todd was beginning to wear him out and they had been going over the same strategy for hours.

Todd looked at his brother and sneered. “Yeah, I can see how ready you are to go face down Alison’s goons.  I understand what you’re saying, but I can do the job.  They might know you, but I’m sure they don’t know every person In the organization.  I’ll just be another nameless follower following orders.  Look, I got in and out of that compound and they were never the wiser.  I think I can fool the idiots working for Alison.  I need you to just lay there and get stronger. Viki back me up on this.”  He looked over at his sister.  She, Dorian, and Sam were all sitting together just letting the brothers fight it out.  Dorian had already stated her objections when Victor first proposed the plan but she had admitted someone needed to get a sample of Carl’s drug.

Viki glanced at Victor and knew he was going to hate what she did next, but she couldn’t let him attempt what Todd was going to do.  “Victor, I have to agree with Todd on this.  You’re in no shape to travel to Washington, let alone try and steal a drug out from under Alison’s nose.  Since he’s so determined to do this himself, I trust Todd and Ms. Vance to retrieve the solid proof that we need to take to Bo and his contacts in the government.  In a few days, Dorian and I will go home and try and get information out of Carl and Jeffrey without letting on that we suspect they are up to something.”

Victor rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.  He had seen the relief on Todd’s face when Viki backed him. “I knew you would take his side.  You’ve been doing it since he came back into our lives.”

“That is unfair.  I love you both, and we almost lost you all over again.  If you think I’m happy that Todd is taking this on, you’re mistaken.  I think it is too dangerous and I wish you both would just let me tell Bo what is going on.”  Both men open their mouths to object, but Viki held up her hand to stop them.  “I know what both of you are going to say, but Bo is a good man and a fair one.  Still, I won’t push going to him. Therefore, I see no other alternative than to let Todd go through with this plan.”

Victor gave up. Turning his gaze back to Todd he said, “Fine, just don’t get yourself caught, Todd.  Baker might have skipped the country, but Alison has plenty of other men at her disposal who would love to get their hands on you.”

Todd’s hands clenched briefly as he envisioned ending up in the compound as a prisoner.  He was determined not to let that happen.“I’m not about to get caught.  All I want to do is get my hands on the drug and gather any other proof of what Carl has planned.  He and Alison are going down and anyone else who’s been in this organization is going  down too.  He messed with me and I hate being anyone’s fall guy.   Look, you should probably get some more rest.  I can feel Dorian’s eyes burrowing into my back.”

Dorian moved to Victor’s bedside. “You’re right about that, Todd.  I haven’t been up half the night and all day saving your brother’s life just to have him take a turn for the worse.  My God, he only woke up a couple hours ago.  I can’t believe you subjected him to this whole mess so soon.“

Todd hated it when Dorian was right.  He could see that Victor was looking paler than when he first confronted him earlier.  Defensively, he remarked.  “He wanted in on this and he’s a grown man.  I’m not his keeper, Dorian.”

Viki could feel the tension in the room rise as Todd and Dorian glared at each other. “You know what, I’m going to go look in on Clint.  Todd, maybe you and Ms. Vance  should finish ironing out your plans.  We’ll let  Dorian check out Victor and then let him rest.”  She rose and left the room. 

  Todd shook his head.  Clearly she wanted him and Sam to follow her out.  He nodded to Sam who got up and left also, then he turned to Victor.  “Nothing more is happening tonight. I’ll let you know the rest of the plans in the morning.”  With that, he made a curt nod to Dorian and headed downstairs to complete his talk with Sam.

Victor wearily looked at Dorian.  “I don’t get it.  Why did you agree to help Todd and me?”

Dorian stared after Todd for a moment and then looked down at her patient.  “You never understood me, Victor.  Strangely, Todd does.  He knows I would do anything for Blair.  We both love her.  You used her feelings for Todd to manipulate her for a lot of years and you only now appear to know just how special love between two people can be.  Blair asked a favor of me so I came down here.   When I saw Todd at first, I wanted to kill him for playing Blair until I saw the reason he brought me down.  He knew how important you were to the boys, Tea, and Dani.  He was determined to give you back to them no matter what he felt about you.  I respect that.  So here I am.”  She touched his forehead.  “Your fever is going up again.  Take these antibiotics and rest.”  She waited until Victor swallowed the pills and then sat down and picked up the magazine she had been reading from earlier.  A short while later Victor drifted off to sleep.

****

After seeing Sam Vance out, Todd walked to the bar and poured a scotch.  He glanced down at the plans he and Sam had been going over and took a deep breath.  What they had planned was going to take some pretty fancy footwork on everyone’s part if they were going to pull it off.  He took a drink and reflected on everything that had taken place in the last couple of days. God, has it only been five days, Manning?  Seems so much longer since that night in Key West. What are you doing Blair?  He looked at his watch and realized Shelter was closing. Blair was probably headed home.  All of a sudden, all he could think of was reaching out to her and hearing her voice. 

Draining his drink, Todd headed for his room.  He walked past his room long enough to look in on Victor.  Vance’s operative on guard in Victor’s room was also a ex army medic.  She had sent him for the night duty so Dorian could get some sleep too.  Todd took a quick peek and Victor appeared to be sleeping.   He walked toward the operative. The guard was alert. He started to stand up from where he was sitting but Todd waved him down.  “Don’t get up, I was just checking on him.  Is he alright?”

“Yes sir.  Dr. Lord gave him a sedative along with the antibiotic.  She said he should sleep through the night.”  The guard looked over at the sleeping man.  “He’s lucky to be alive.  When I arrived early this morning to help out, it definitely was touch and go.  Ms. Vance said you were worried he might try and leave.  Just want to assure you, I’ll stay on my toes but I really don’t think he’d get very far if he did get out of bed. Those wounds were bad.  He’s not going anywhere for a couple of days at least.”

“Maybe, but you don’t know my brother.  Just keep an eye on him.”  Victor stirred and said Tea’s name, then. mumbled and drifted back off to sleep.  Todd frowned, he had forgotten that Victor had talked to Tea.  It was just something else he should probably talk to Blair about.  “Well, it looks like you know what you’re doing.  Goodnight.”  With that, Todd left the room and entered his own.

He walked over to the bed and laid back against his pillows. The scent of Blair’s perfume clinging to them surrounded him for a moment and he closed his eyes remembering their last night together.  He reached for his phone and waited for her to answer.

Blair was just getting comfortable when her cell phone rang.  She skirted the bed and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw who was calling.  Breathlessly she answered.  “Todd, I thought you would never call.  Are you alright?  What happened with Dorian and Victor?”

Todd smiled. “There’s the woman I love.  Always the questions.”  From the silence at her end of the call, Todd could picture Blair blushing.   

       Sitting down on the side of her bed, Blair felt herself go warm all over at the tone in his voice.  Her own voice lowered as she greeted her husband properly.  “Hi.”  It was one little word, but it was said with all her love.

       Todd closed his eyes and imagined her lying next to him on the bed. “Hi, Blair.  You sound good.  Is everything alright with you and the baby?”

        Blair laughed. “Now who’s asking questions?” She heard his laugh. “Todd, I miss you so much.  I’m fine and so is the baby.” She rubbed her belly feeling their baby push back. “But really, how are you?  Did Dorian help?  Is Victor still alive?  I was terrified after that call last night.  I can’t believe Clint shot Victor.”

         He could hear the anxiety in her tone. “Blair, I’m sorry.  I should have called you before this.  I’m doing great now that I can hear your voice.  My throat a little sore from Victor’s attack, but it’s nothing that rest won’t heal.  Dorian agreed to help and she’s also going to help with another problem.  Victor survived his wounds and woke up this afternoon.  He’s going to need some time to heal but you don’t need to worry, he’s not headed to hell yet.”

       “Todd stop!  He is Sam’s dad.  He’s also your brother, even though I know you don’t care to remember that.  I don’t want him dead, besides, Tea would be devastated again.  By the way, she was trying to reach me all day and finally caught me at Shelter.  Todd, she’s been frantically trying to reach Viki since she got a call last night from Victor on Viki’s phone.  I don’t understand.  How could Victor call Tea?  I thought he was shot.”

        Todd frowned, he hadn’t told Blair everything about the previous night.  “Um, you know my sore throat.  Well, Victor wasn’t shot by Clint while he was attacking me.  Victor was choking me again and I remember Viki coming out of her room just before I lost consciousness.  Viki got Victor to let go of me by giving him her phone and letting him talk to Tea.  He forgot about me when he realized Tea was alive and we had been telling him the truth. Unfortunately, it was after the phone call that Clint went a little crazy.”

        Blair’s heart had jumped into her throat when it dawned on her what Todd was telling her.  “Todd, do you mean you almost died last night.  Why didn’t you tell me?  I would have been on that plane with Dorian had I known.”

        “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.  I won’t risk you and the baby at this stage, it’s dangerous.  No, Dorian came and we handled it.  Like I said, I’m fine and Victor is going to be fine too.  You say you talked to Tea.  Did you tell her about his injury?”

Blair leaned back on her pillows sighing with relief.  It wouldn’t do her any good to get mad at him. Todd was Todd and he would always do things his way or be damned.  “I couldn’t tell her.  I hadn’t heard from you yet.  She thought if she could find Viki she could find Victor.” 

Todd sat up in bed. “Blair, tell me you didn’t tell her where Viki was.”

“Of course not.  I pretended to call Nigel and then told Tea Viki’s phone was stolen when she was headed out on her business trip.”

If she had been there he would have kissed her.  That was Blair, thinking on her feet as always  “I love you, Blair Manning.”

Blair felt that warm cozy feeling envelop her again.  “I love you too, Todd Manning.  You need to hurry and get this thing resolved.  Your daughter isn’t going to wait much longer to make her entrance.”

“I’m working on it, Babe.  It won’t be long now.” He paused. “Get some sleep. Goodnight.”


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