Chapter 40
Bo and Blair, along with the forensic team, arrived at The Sun. They headed straight up to the executive offices and opened the door to find Suzanne behind her desk and the package that had been delivered sitting in front of her. Suzanne looked up and breathed a big sigh of relief at the sight of her boss.
“Ms. Cramer, I did as you said and haven’t touched them after opening the package. I couldn’t believe it at first. I mean I knew what they were but couldn’t understand why they had been sent to you until I saw the blood on them. That was when I realized they must be Mr. Manning’s.”
“It’s alright Suzanne, you did the right thing. Thank you for calling me. I was with Bo when I got your call. They’re going to take it from here and make sure those do belong to Todd.”
Bo took a look at the braces. “Suzanne, did you see who delivered these?’
“No, they were outside the door to the office when I returned from lunch.”
“We’re going to need your fingerprints just so we can separate any others we find on the packaging. I’m sorry.”
Blair spoke up. “Bo that won’t be necessary. We have fingerprints on file of all Sun employees. I’ll have Suzanne’s sent up.” She walked over to the phone and made a quick call. Then she found herself going towards the braces. It certainly looked like dried blood on them but was it Todd’s. She felt sick to her stomach. She had gotten a look at the car after Bo called her and there had been a large trail of blood from the area where Todd’s chair had been buckled in, leading to the door. It was clear Todd had been injured but she had no idea how bad and it was tearing her up. She drew a deep breath, “Suzanne, was there any note with the package?”
Suzanne nodded and held a card out to her.
Bo took it and opened it up. There were only a few words inside. ‘You Know What We Want!’. He handed it to Blair. “What do they want?”
“Bo, I have no idea. I still don’t know who they are. Why are they doing this? “
Bo looked at her. “This is obviously a threat and it’s clear they’ve already reached out to you, why else would they send this note with Todd’s braces? Blair, this has to be from O'Brien's syndicate. Basically, they are telling you that Todd is now helpless and if you want him back you need to do what they’ve been asking of you.”
****
Todd sat up in his bed. He was still forced to wear the hood and it was maddening. He really wanted to rip the damn thing off but knew if he did they would probably kill him. For the first few days, he had been barely able to lift his head off the bed but slowly he had felt his strength coming back. When they removed his braces, it had been hard not to laugh. They thought they were making it impossible for him to escape. They had no idea how close he was to walking without the damn things. They had only given him the motivation to get back on his feet faster.
He had spent the last couple of days keeping track of the routine the Irish were using when they came to check on him. They left him alone for long periods and he had started using those times trying to get off the bed on his own two legs. The first couple of attempts to stand on both his feet had been a little humbling. The left leg gave out the first time and he saved himself a nasty fall by landing back on the bed. He found himself a bit hampered because he still couldn’t use his right arm a lot. When he tried the second attempt he got off balance since he was relying on his right leg and the next thing he knew he went down hard, Unfortunately, he had landed hard on his right arm and shoulder and it had taken everything not to cry out in pain. He had managed to get himself back on the bed but he realized his recovery was going to take a little bit longer.
The doctor had been curious why his shoulder was inflamed and he put it down to infection unaware that it was because of the fall. Todd had let the next couple of days go by only doing stretches and exercises that he could to strengthen his legs and his arm both. He needed to do something soon. It had been almost a week since they had taken his braces and he could hear a lot of arguing going on outside his room. He was guessing that Blair hadn’t cooperated enough to suit O’Brien. It was time to try walking again. He swung his legs off the bed.
Setting his feet down, Todd reached for the chair that usually sat right next to the bed. To his surprise, the chair was missing. “Damn! They moved the chair. They must have done it while you were asleep, you fool. Well, chair or no chair, you need to do this.” He pushed off the bed with his arms and attempted to get his legs under him. For one brief moment, he felt his left leg start to give and he willed it to stay straight as he reached for the wall. Leaning on the wall helped him to get the left leg stabilized and he breathed a sigh of relief. He straightened up and was exhilarated. He had done it. He was standing on his own. Now the big question. Would the legs cooperate if he took a step? “Okay, you can do this. Damn, I could sure use a cane right about now.” He shuffled his right leg a little closer to the wall and used it to steady himself as he took his first real step on his left leg without the brace. The leg moved forward and he got ready to move his right.
“It’s now or never. Come on leg hold up.” He settled his weight over the left leg and raised his right to take another step. The leg held and he wanted to give a huge shout of joy but caught himself just in time. “Easy, Todd, it’s just two steps.” He held out his arms for balance and took another step and then another, soon he walked into what seemed to be a table. “Yes!” He took a minute to hold onto the table and turn around and then leaned back to rest against the top. His legs were starting to feel a bit rubbery but he was determined to make it back to the bed. Suddenly he heard voices coming from the hallway. He had no choice, he forced himself to speed up and prayed his legs would hold him up. He heard someone unlocking the door just as his left leg gave out and he fell just shy of the bed, landing hard on his right arm. It was impossible to keep from crying out as Pain radiated from his shoulder. He grimaced and turned over onto his back, his hand going up to his shoulder just as the door opened.
“Why Mr. Manning. whatever are you doing on the floor? Did you really think you could crawl out of here?” The doctor went to Todd’s side and saw the blood staining the shirt. “My, My, it wasn’t very smart. On top of everything else, you’ve busted some of my stitches. Really, Mr. Manning, you know you don’t have a chance of getting out of here. Why would you even attempt such a thing?:” The doctor went to the door. Seeing one of O’Briens’ men, he said. “Come inside, I need help getting this man back up on the bed.”
Antonio had been called in earlier that day and was on his way out with instructions for his gang. He was wondering how he was going to get a message to Bo when the man stopped him. Antonio recognized the doctor who had patched up a couple of his gang members and figured one of O’Brien's men had been injured somehow. He was thrown for a loop when he walked into the room and saw a man in a blindfold mask lying on the floor. It looked like O’Brien was holding someone against his will and then he realized why the doctor needed his help. The man at his feet was none other than Todd Manning. Bo had been searching for him for almost two weeks. All he could see of his face was his mouth and nose but when Antonio saw the wound in the man’s shoulder he was sure of it.
The doctor looked at the man just staring at his patient. “You, stop gawking and get his feet, I’ve got his back, I don’t want to make his wound any worse.” They lifted Todd up and placed him on his bed. “Good, now stay here and watch this guy. I need to go get my medical kit.”
Antonio couldn’t believe his luck. As soon as the doctor left, he pulled up a chair next to the bed. “Well, for a guy who’s paralyzed, you sure stir up a lot of trouble.. Can’t say I sorry to see you in this shape but at the same time anyone who would hurt an invalid is pure scum in my mind.”
Todd turned his head in the direction of the voice he heard. The more the man said the more Todd was certain he knew who he was. “Vega is that you? What the hell are you doing working for O’Brien?”
Antonio covered Todd’s mouth and bent closer whispering. “I’m undercover trying to get the goods on O’Brien but Blair had to go and stir him up and look where it got you.”
Todd pushed Antonio's had away. “What are you waiting for? Help me get out of here/”
“No can do. The doctor will be back any minute and I’m not even supposed to know who you are. Look, now that we know where you are, you just need to sit tight..O’Brien has something big going down tonight. I have orders to have my gang act like lookouts for a big shipment coming in at the dock. I’ll let Bo and Blair know you’re still alive. It’s up to you to stay that way until we can rescue you. Besides, we’re deep in O’Briens hideout, It’s not like I can carry you out like a sack of potatoes. We’d both be caught then.” The door began to open and Antonio slipped off the chair and stood with his back against the wall. “Glad you’re back, Doc The guy’s been moaning and complaining about his shoulder. I told him to shut up but he’s stubborn. Ain’t that right pal” Todd started to curse him and Antonio reached down and pressed Todd’s shoulder eliciting another moan from him.
The doctor frowned, shook his head and moved to the bed. “Get out of here. I’m sure your talents are better occupied elsewhere.” He positioned the chair next to the head of the bed and began removing Todd’s shirt. “Mr. Manning. I thought you were smarter. It won’t do you any good to try and elicit sympathy from that kind of ruffian. They live to cause trouble and that is exactly why O’Brien needs them. They present a good diversion from time to time” Exposing the shoulder, the doctor used an antiseptic wipe to clean the blood from around the busted stitches.
Todd just gritted his teeth as the doctor once more sewed him up “How can you work for a criminal like O’Brien?”
“Well, that’s a good question. You see, I’m a good catholic boy and my mother always asked me to take care of my brother and that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s because of him, I’m a doctor and it’s because of me he’s still alive. When we were younger, he began to run with this gang in New York and before you knew it, he had positioned himself right near the top. During those years, he took care of our mother and helped me through Medical school. The same year I graduated, our mother got ill and before she died, she made me promise to look out for him. She knew the kind of life he was in and she knew it was dangerous. Several months later he took a bullet meant for the head guy and he came to me for help. Naturally, I helped him. When the head guy died, my brother took over the syndicate and I’ve been the personal physician for him and his gang ever since.:” He reached into his bag and took out a pill. “Here, take this, it will ease the pain.”
Todd took the pill and a swallow of water and the next thing he knew everything was going black. The doctor had given him something to knock him out
