Blair had notified her when Samuel had gone missing, and she knew Blair was terrified for her husband. After hearing about Todd's blindness and near death experience, she understood why Blair was so concerned. What she didn't understand was why Todd left in the first place. Blair wasn't talking about the reasons behind Todd's disappearance, but Cassie had a good idea that Blair knew the reason. When Blair had shown up that afternoon she had announced that Todd was somewhere in Savannah and it had taken everything under the sun for Cassie to make sense of Blair's first outburst.
"Blair, would you please sit down. When did you find out Todd was here in Savannah?" asked Cassie.
Blair stopped and looked at her cousin. "My God, I've been going crazy and out of the blue, he called me. I wasted no time getting a flight here, but now I realize he didn't tell me where to find him."
"Well that's easy enough, give his picture to the police."
"I can't Cassie. I just can't. I have this feeling he's into something very dangerous. Something so dangerous it made him call me. I think that's why he didn't tell me exactly where he was, he's hoping to get whatever he's involved in completed before I find him. The problem is I feel like I've got to find him now or I might lose him permanently. He's trying to protect me, that's one of the reasons he left in the first place."
"Who's he trying to protect you from?"
"Himself. The big idiot. Help me, Cassie, help me figure out what he could be doing here. You used to be a reporter. Are there any big stories unfolding in Savannah?"
" Oh, I don't know Blair there are all sorts of stories happening in Savannah. Do you think Todd might be looking into a story? But why would he do that? He's a big time publisher he'd never be able to get close to a story. Most newspapers editors know who Todd Manning is."
"Cassie you're forgetting, everyone believes Jake is Todd Manning. The feds have deliberately kept Jake's and Todd's pictures out of the papers because there is concern that Hesser's partners have ordered a hit on them. But you know Todd, if he doesn't want to be found he's very good at hiding. I believe Todd is trying to find redemption again. He convinced himself that his darkness was returning and so he left me. He didn't want that part of him hurting me. Cassie did I ever tell you that Todd's alters are real."
Cassie had just been reaching for the paper when Blair made her last comment. She sat down abruptly. "Blair surely you're not falling for that, I can't believe he would pull that con again."
"That's just it Cassie, it was never a con. Everything that happened years ago was the truth. The biggest truth was that Todd knew his Alters and had known about them for years. When Todd collapsed in that courtroom, and you and Kevin were convinced he was faking being catatonic, you were wrong. In the last 8 months since I found him, Todd has slipped into that state twice that I know of. Once was in a controlled situation with his therapist and a nurse at the Cherryvale Clinic. It was during a therapy session that went awry. Another was on Dorian's driveway after a bad encounter with his daughter Dani and his son Jack. The story Tom told on the stand was true. Only, Cassie so much more has been done to him since. Samuel is real and Todd's newest alter. Samuel showed up the night Mitch buried Todd with his father Victor."
"Oh My God! You don't mean Mitch literally buried Todd, do you?"
"That's exactly what Mitch did, he opened Victor's crypt and laid Todd bound and gagged next to his father's dead body and then he closed the lid." Blair sat down her voice breaking as she recalled the session where Todd finally remembered the events of that night.
At first, Cassie thought Blair was delusional, in that she honestly believed more of Todd's lies. Yet the more she listened, the more she realized that Blair was telling her the truth. As Blair had talked, she had gotten lost in her memories and had zoned out on Cassie. It was as if Blair had watched Todd's burial. If Mitch did that to Todd, he had two choices go mad or withdraw. From the sound of it Todd escaped the only way he had available, he had withdrawn inside his head. When that happened years before, everyone met Tom. According to Blair, Samuel was born following the incidence in 2003. Samuel had seemed so real when she had talked to him on the phone. Would she ever know? Blair said her husband was the original Todd, but Samuel was so different than Todd. "Blair, Who did you marry? Samuel or Todd?"
Blair came out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry Cassie I forgot, at the time I got married, you and Dorian were the only two people who weren't brought up to speed for security reasons. Todd married me but legally he's Samuel Toddman because Samuel is the alter who had the ID and he's the one who brought Todd home."
"Blair, is there any chance Todd could be using an alter to stay hidden?"
"I don't think he is. If he were allowing his Alters out, one of them would have contacted me before this. I'm not sure why, but I have this feeling that Todd has a very firm grip on his control right now. He's not letting any of them out. I think he's afraid to, at this time. Turn on the news maybe something will strike a chord."
They turned off the news no closer to figuring out what Todd was up to. Cassie stole a glance at Blair and saw her staring off into space again. "Blair you said he left because you think he was afraid of hurting you. What could have made him think that? The night he married you in that beautiful home, was one of the most romantic weddings I've seen. His vows to you were spoken from the heart and he meant every word. The man that married you was incapable of hurting you. If anything he would die before letting that happen."
"Exactly Cassie and what I was so afraid of before he called was that he left with that purpose in mind. The morning he left me he looked so broken like something new had found a way to tear him apart. Something so ugly he was ashamed to look at me. After all these years, I should have known he would react the way he did. Todd's MO has always been to hate himself first and foremost. but I thought we had finally gotten past it with his therapy. Then when I managed to bring him back from the edge
"Not yet Blair, will you just talk to me. I need to hear your voice. I miss you."
He sounded so weary, but she knew he wouldn't give his location until he was ready. "I miss you too. Starr and Vicki want you to hurry up and come home. Little Hope has been asking about her Dragon, The other night she told me her dragon must be helping some more kids like he did in her story. I told her she was probably right but that the dragon would be home soon. Please don't make me a liar. Please, won't you give me a hint, something to help me find you quicker."
He couldn't raise her hopes, there was so much that could go wrong with his plan, CJ and he had discussed all their options and then CJ had left to talk to his father-in-law. "It won't be much longer. When you talk to Starr tell her to tell Hope, that when the Dragon finishes his chore he'll be able to come home. I'm glad you're here. I love you, Blair."
"I love you, Todd." he hung up right after her words and Blair began crying and hugging the phone. Cassie moved to Blair and held her as she cried.
Todd closed the phone and rolled over trying to get some rest, but it was impossible. She was so near, she didn't know how near they were to each other. He had chosen his hotel because it was in the same general area where Cassie lived. Now that he thought about it, he realized he had subconsciously picked his hotel because he had wanted to be near Blair's family. Deep down, he had wanted to be found.
"Tom is everything alright with you guys? I'm sorry I've been ignoring all of you."
"Sure Todd, we're fine, well except that Pete still can't talk. Samuel's relieved you finally called Blair. He and Ms. Perkins still think you're being reckless. Todd? What that lady talked about, all those kids; will you be able to help them? I don't like the idea of little kids being taken from their families, it's not right."
"You're right Tom, it's not. When I heard about the missing children and young girls I thought they were talking about a handful. It stumps me how these men have managed to kidnap over a hundred and forty children without throwing up a red flag. If they've managed to do this now, how many other times have they been doing it? I need to find out more about the operation. The Daimler Corporation is huge. This operation could be one of many up the east coast. Tom, go get Pete."
Tom went in search of Pete and found him hanging close to Samuel and Ms. Perkins. "Hey Pete, Todd wants you."
Pete looked up in surprise. His eyes met Samuel's then he noted Samuel's frown. Samuel nodded and Pete found himself alone. He hadn't been able to talk since his night with Hesser, Todd had silenced him mid-laugh. If Todd wanted to talk, had he given him back his voice. Pete cleared his throat and realized he was free to once more speak. When Todd had effectively shut him up, Pete had discovered just how tenuous he was. It had taken him down a notch to realize Todd really did have power over all of them. Todd was no longer the boy needing to be saved. He had fought his battles and had won his right to be whole. Todd was keeping them around because he wanted them there, not because he needed them there.
Therefore, it was safe to assume there was something Todd wanted from him that only he could provide. "I'm here Todd, what do you need."
"I need your advice. I just realized this operation taking place here could be going on at other ports. Any suggestions on how I can find out tonight if that's true."
"Yeah, you need to take a quick road trip. You've been working on the docks. What's the first thing most of you do when you finish for the day."
"We go and have a drink. How's that going to help me?"
"You got the date the Daimler ship is docking, don't you? The ship has other ports to stop in. Go to the nearest one, I'll bet you there's a bar close by and my guess is you'll find some unsavory characters you just might get some information from. If you want, I'll take over when we get to the bar."
Todd laid there for a minute then made up his mind. "Road trip it is."
He suddenly felt energized again. Todd pulled out his laptop and brought up the info on Daimler's Ship, sure enough, the ship was also making a stop up the coast in North Carolina. If there was an operation there, the company's hired guns would be hitting the bars there in a couple of hours. He made a quick call and headed for a private airstrip. He would be there in under two hours, he merely had to get his information and be back in Savannah when it was time to meet CJ. "Pete, stick around, you might see some action."
The flight was quick and Todd caught a taxi to the dock. It was already getting active on the dock and some workers were beginning their usual jobs,
Pete reached up after looking in the window and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it off his face. "Man Todd, you're ragged looking," he shook his head and entered the bar heading straight for the counter.
"Double shot of whiskey, I need to drown my day," he sat down close enough to hear the conversation going on just down the bar from him. Looking at the three men while he waited for his drink, he noted they had the look of mercenaries, not dock workers.
"Man, I'll be glad when this gig is up. This inactivity is killing me," said the man closest to Pete.
"Yeah, babysitting stinks. but you can't deny we've got great perks. Those girls are something else. Can't say I mind the training duties." said the second man.
The guy farthest away from Pete took a drink and then remarked. "Yep, those goods are
"You're telling me. I had one the other night that was begging me to stay. I almost felt sorry for her. She was all over me trying to please me." the guy in the middle nudged his pal and winked.
Pete's hand tightened around his glass and it shattered spilling what was left of the whiskey. "Sorry, give me another bartender," he had attracted the attention of the men and now waited to see if they would go back to their conversation. In the mirror, he saw they were still looking his way so he raised his second glass to them. "Bad night. I think it's time I got another job, from what I overheard, you guys sound like you got it good, your Boss wouldn't be looking to hire, would he? Man, what I wouldn't give for some choice tail right now."
The taller of the three men came and stood next to him. "Sorry pal, but I can tell you right now you don't have what it takes to hire on with our bunch, so you might just want to forget what you heard. In fact, I suggest you finish your drink and leave."
"Hey, man take it easy, didn't mean to step where I wasn't wanted. Haven't been out of the pen that long, don't want to cause any trouble." Pete held up his hands in surrender and turned to finish his drink. He felt the leader's eyes on him but ignored him, he had made his point and found out a what Todd had wanted to know. No sense getting into a fight, Pete exited his seat, bowed to the gentlemen and headed out the way he came in. His anger was just below the surface, but he knew it wasn't the time or place for a show of bravado. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. That did it, Pete lost his cool, he hated to be touched. He slipped free of the hand and turned bringing his foot up into the man's stomach before the other guy had a chance to react. "Oh man, sorry, you caught me off guard. I've got a thing about being touched." Pete said. "Honest, I don't want any trouble." Truthfully, Pete would have like nothing better than to see the guy knocked out cold and he was pretty sure the rest of the guys would have gone along with it, including Todd. Pete backed away his hands again up and in surrender mode to show his intentions.
The man straightened up and glared at Pete but made no move to attack him. "Relax, I accept your apology. I'm kinda touchy that way myself, my mistake. You've got pretty fast reflexes for an older man, guys don't usually get under my guard like that."
"Well us older guys have to get our kicks some way." Pete smiled grimly keeping a close eye on the guy and wondered where his pals had gotten off to.
The man chuckled at Pete's choice of words and reached down to pick up Pete's jacket. "I guess so. I came to bring you your jacket. You left it. I didn't realize I was approaching a seasoned fighter, or I would have spoken first. You're not bad mister, but like I said inside, this company is out of your league." he handed over the jacket and returned inside.
Pete took his jacket and opened to the inside pocket, he was relieved to see they hadn't found his ID. It had been a mistake on his part to leave the jacket, but he couldn't afford to let his identity be known until Todd exposed the slavery ring. Pete stopped and said. "I think they answered our question. Anything else you want to look into while we're here?"
"We're done Pete, I'll take it from here, " said Todd.
The flight back was quick and Todd headed back to his hotel to get ready to meet CJ. His thoughts were all over the place. This was so much bigger than he had figured and he had to get in touch with John. John and Bo both had the connections to make something happen. He tried to rein in his thoughts because he was going to need all his concentration to pull off Lily's rescue for right now. The plan was to retrieve Lily without anyone realizing she was missing. Kym said that since the selection process was complete, there would be no interruptions from the trainers, and the only one to know that they were one girl short would be her. Tom was going to provide the distraction so CJ could connect with Kym and get Lily. On his way to the dock, Todd made a call to Amos leaving him a message that the story was bigger than first imagined and that The City Fathers might have some explaining to do.
Amos was walking to his desk when his voice mail went off. He listened, then picked up his phone and told his print room to gear up for a special issue. He had to hand it to Tom, the man was uncanny when it came to picking the stories with the most bite. Amos just wished he knew who Tom Lord really was. He turned on his computer and noticed an email from Victoria Lord, Publisher of the Banner in Llanview Pa. Why would she be writing him? Talk about coincidence, how weird was it that he should get an email from a Lord when he was thinking about a Lord? Could they possibly be related? The subject of the email was a Samuel Toddman, renowned artist and relative to Victoria Lord. He read the story with interest and called down to archives to pull up the story about Hesser and Kipling that had made national news not that long ago. There was an attachment to the email and Amos opened it and dropped his coffee in his lap in astonishment. He grabbed some extra papers to mop up the mess on his desk and lap and stared at the image of Thomas Lord on his screen. The attachment said Samuel Toddman and it was marked to be open b the recipient only. Amos closed the attachment as the copywriter brought him the article.
Amos leaned back in his chair and read the article, he was intrigued by the story and the talk about experimentation. He opened the file again and stared at Samuel, how could the artist and his reporter be one and the same. Likenesses between relatives was always a possibility but why would both men be sporting the same scars. Amos read more about Samuel's disappearance and then he got to the part about Samuel's recent blindness. There was the proof he needed. He had seen first hand that Thomas was blind, then the last part of the sentence caught Amos's eye. Shit, Lord had a heart problem. He shouldn't have been anywhere near the dock story. Amos knew he should pull him off the story immediately, but he also knew from the other night, that it wouldn't do any good.
This was just great, Thomas Lord was on the verge of breaking a white slavery ring wide open and he had a ticking bomb in his chest. Not to mention, he quite possibly had a target on his back besides. Amos mulled over what his options were regarding Thomas Lord. He could let Victoria Lord know of
He felt he had to do one more thing before he closed the attachment. hitting reply he wrote:
I'm writing this to let you know that he's alright. You should know he's in the middle of a story which concerns a number of small children. He wouldn't forgive either of us if I pulled him off the story now. Bear with him. I believe he'll contact you soon. PS. I know he wouldn't mind if you contacted his wife she appears to mean a great deal to him.
After hitting send. Amos closed the email and went back to work getting ready for Thomas Lord's story.
C.J. was already waiting when Todd arrived, after a few minutes to get the plans straight, they separated to put it in play. Todd left C.J. and took off his ring, he opened his cane and began his walk toward the warehouse. The sun was getting low in the sky and the warehouses were casting huge shadows over the docks. The shadows were playing havoc with what little sight Todd had, making it almost impossible to distinguish the moving blobs from the stationary crates. Todd had decided earlier to walk the whole dock in an effort to see if he could locate the warehouse housing the children. As he walked, the hustle and bustle going on around him began to die down. The workers were finishing for the night and there were fewer people milling around. He found himself walking in a nearly deserted area and thought it was a little strange. Todd paused and wondered if he was nearing the warehouse he was looking for. Kym had said it was closely guarded, the lack of workers in this area indicated he was probably getting close. He continued his stroll only now he decided to walk closer to the actual warehouses.
He was listening now more than using his limited sight and off to his right he heard a cough and began smelling cigarette smoke. He had never been one for cigarettes, but he needed an excuse to get close so he wandered closer to the smoker and inquired. "Excuse me but you wouldn't by any chance have a spare would you."
The guard had been startled and now looked at the man standing in front of him. His boss would have his head if he didn't get rid of the guy. "I don't know where you came from Mister, but you shouldn't be here. Get Lost!"
"I guess that means no, sorry I bothered you. I'm a little turned around now. Could you tell me how to get to Warehouse 22?" Todd picked a warehouse number at random down the same direction as the building housing the girls, he was hoping the man wouldn't try and direct him away from the area he was headed.
"Sheesh fella, I'm not a road map. Look you need to get out of here, take a right and go about four warehouses, I think you'll be close to 22.
"Let's see...take a right, hmm... Is that my right or
"Lou, what's going one over there? Do you need help?" a voice to Todd's left called out. The count had just gone up to two guards.
The guy named Lou growled, "Are you trying to be funny Mister. Just go that way and you'll get to your damn warehouse."
"And which way would that way happen to be?" asked Todd He was getting a kick out of rattling this guy.
"Why you ..." Lou grabbed Todd by his shirt and spun him around shoving him away abruptly.
Todd was unable to stop his momentum and stumbled to his knees. His cane had clattered to the ground beside him as he had attempted to stop his fall.
He reached out trying to figure out where the cane had landed and heard footsteps coming toward him.
"Lou, who is this guy? I asked you if you needed help?"
"Relax Ed, he's just some wise guy. Listen, Mister, get out of here now if you know what's good for you."
Todd worked at keeping Pete under control. The minute he had been shoved, Pete had tried to get loose. He was still searching for his cane when Lou's remark registered. Pete was in a rage and it took everything in him to keep his cool. His hand finally found his cane and using it he regained his feet. He brushed himself off and said. "Look I don't want any trouble. I asked for a cigarette for god's sake and some directions, can't you give a man a break?"
Lou had no sooner said his ultimatum when he realized the guy was still on the ground and then he saw why. He hadn't realized the wise guy was blind. Now his wiseacre remarks made sense. Lou looked at Ed and back at the guy regaining his feet. Ed moved to the man.
"Mister, sorry if my friend Lou got a little rough. We have orders to keep strangers away from here and you're trespassing so to speak. We're going to let it slide because you couldn't see the signs, but you need to go now."
Todd took a deep breath, letting the anger go, he had gotten his answer. Most warehouses didn't post no-trespassing signs. This must be the warehouse Kym was talking about. "I still need directions to Warehouse 22."
Ed turned Todd toward Kym's warehouse and said "Go straight ahead and turn to your right about 200 paces then keep going straight. You'll be getting close and someone can direct you then." He gave Todd a mild push. "Now get out of here."
Todd started walking in the direction he was aimed and said "Thanks...NOT!"
Ed had to chuckle at the nerve of the guy. The guards watched as he found his way out of the area.
Todd was quietly chuckling to himself too. Thanks to "Ed's" directions he knew they had sent him the way he had started because he could still hear the ocean off to his left but they had also given him a basis to start counting his steps and he would know exactly how far away the children's warehouse was from the girls'.
The sun had dropped below the horizon by the time Todd reached the warehouse where Kym and the girls resided, There hadn't been time to plan a full on
He sat back and waited for the sky to darken the rest of the way. He had brought along a flask this night in order to appear inebriated as he stumbled around outside the warehouse, he needed to provide enough of a distraction to bring all the guards out toward him among the crates and away from the door. He had spent the last few hours making a maze he could navigate through among the crates and with Pete's, Samuel's, and Rodd's help he was pretty sure he could lead them a merry chase.
It was Showtime. Todd reached into his pocket got the flask and took a generous swig. For added effect, he poured some in his hand and splashed it on his face and jacket. Now he smelled like he had been drinking for a while. He maneuvered himself well into his maze and pulled out the other two items in his arsenal. His father 's lighter and firecrackers. Then he began.
"Hey Pete, you ole buddy come on just give me another swig, You shouldn't hog the whole thing let your pal Tom have some." Todd giggled loudly and let Pete have a turn.
Pete jumped in with both feet. "Naw you'll drink it all, you just sit over there, I got something that will liven things up." Pete took a couple of firecrackers out of the pack and using the lighter lit them and threw them in the general direction of the warehouse. They heard them go off and heard the guards start swearing.
Todd got a little louder and "Hey no fair, you don't get to have all the fun. Let Rodd have a chance."
"Si I a want a chance but
When he didn't toss them immediately Pete took over and flung them toward the guards. "You fool leave those to me. You and Tom are too drunk. Hey Samuel, how about you? Want some fun?"
The last firecrackers had started the guards moving in the directions of the crates Pete felt his way a little deeper in and then Samuel took over for a little bit. "Really you guys, just how much have you had. Rodd, Tom you should know better. Give me that." Samuel took a gulp and felt it burn down his throat. He could hear the guards starting to make their way into the crates looking for the group of men they thought were inside. Todd's plan entailed getting them deep into the crates and out of sight of the door so C.J. could meet with Kym uninterrupted.
Samuel waited, listening carefully as the men made their way into the crates.
"Mario, I can't even see where I'm going, just where are those nut jobs?" said Frank as he stumbled into a smaller crate bumping his shin.
"You're asking me? Please, I can barely see you. Stop and listen for a minute." said Mario.
Samuel smiled, the plan was working beautifully, he knew where Frank and Mario were approximately but he had heard several more feet so he moved away from Frank and Mario and headed closer to the other two cursing the crates from the other direction. "Pete, let me see those for a minute."
Samuel took his time feeling the length of the wicks on a couple of firecrackers and carefully lighting them, he tossed them into the crates where he had heard the swearing.
Rodd began to giggle and Pete then roared with laughter as they heard the other two guards scramble away from the firecrackers shouting, and then there was the sound of someone falling into the water.
Frank and Mario listened to the shouts and Mario said, "Dave, Luke, are you guys okay?"
"Frank, Mario, Luke just fell in the water, have you found those guys yet?" said Dave
"It's dark as hell in here. I'm not even sure where we are. I can't even see my face, let alone find those guys right now. Wait I think I hear them but I'm not sure how to get to them. They sound pretty close, Frank and I will keep going. You help Luke."
Todd turned and took the last item from his pocket, a matchbook. He set it down on top of a crate directly on the remainder of the firecrackers pulled one match free and close the book of matches. Then he tucked the single match at right angles into the matchbook. The whole time he was working on it, he talked. "Hey come on yous guys I want my turn. Lemme have them," he could hear Frank and Mario getting closer. They would be entering the middle any minute. He lit the match and exited down the path that would lead him out of the maze immediately. As he exited the maze he made out three blobs under the lights near the warehouse door. The plan had worked perfectly. Two of the blobs separated from the third and disappeared into the darkness. Suddenly behind him, the firecrackers roared into life and he heard shouts coming from the middle of the maze. He turned and made out light coming from the center. It appeared a small fire had ensued. That was going to keep the men busy for a few as they put it out. He started to leave and felt a hand on his arm. It was Kym's.
"You continue to amaze me, Tom." She reached up and pulled his lips to hers and kissed him. "Thank you."
Todd was bemused. Kym had put herself in harm's way for Lily and yet she was thanking him.
She pushed him away and said "You better get lost. That blaze is going to bring more help. And go take a shower you smell like a distillery."
Tom smiled "I had to appear drunk if they caught me. Thank you for helping C.J
Kym turned toward the maze and began yelling. "Mario, Frank where are you guys? I heard gunfire. What's going on out here? Dave, Luke, somebody answer me."
Todd had only gotten past the first warehouse when he heard footsteps coming up to him. He suddenly found himself being hugged by a young girl who was crying profusely. "Hey there, it's alright," he awkwardly put a hand around her shoulders. His eyes filled with tears as he held her, feeling her shaking body. "C.J. we need to get her out of here, she needs to be looked at by a doctor."
C.J. had been so relieved to see Todd walking down the dock. He had been telling Lily about her great uncle when they had spotted him. Lily had taken off at a run and had almost knocked his uncle down. "You're right. Thank God, you're okay too. That was a brilliant plan but tell me where did you get those other guys who helped you."
"I'll fill you in when we get Lily some help. Let's go." Todd began walking with Lily still clinging to him and finally, he lifted her up into his arms and allowed C.J. to lead him to the street where they flagged down a Taxi and headed for the hospital.
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