PREVIOUSLY

Téa willed her breathing to return to normal as she felt Todd collapse on top of her. She stroked his hair absently, enjoying the wonderful afterglow of their lovemaking. “I love you Querido,” she whispered, feeling herself drift away.

“And I love you, Delgado,” he murmured, sliding himself to the side.

A moment later, they were both sound asleep.

*************************************************************************************************************

Dr. Susannah Hannen rushed toward the main nurse’s station on the fourth floor. She had just been paged over the hospital loud speaker. She glanced at her watch. It had been over 24 hours since her famous patient and his accomplice had disappeared without a trace, and Susannah had been frantic with worry ever since she had heard the news. “You paged me?” she asked the nurse on desk duty, trying her best to keep her voice even.

“Yes, Doctor,” answered the nurse. “You have a call on line 2.”

“Does the caller have a name?” asked Susannah, reaching for the receiver and punching a button. The nurse fidgeted under the psychiatrist’s cool gaze.

“He…he wouldn’t give his name, Doctor,” she stammered. “But he said you’d remember him from the clinic in Switzerland.”

Thank God! thought Susannah, remaining expressionless as she put the receiver to her ear. “Dr. Hannen,” she said in a bored tone, turning away from the nurse.

“What’s up, Doc?” said Todd’s unmistakable voice on the other end. The staid psychiatrist suppressed an urge to laugh out loud in relief.

“Oh yes, Doctor,” she answered in a business like tone. “I’ve been waiting for your call. You have a lot of people interested in your current study.”

“Sorry about the lack of privacy, Susannah, but I didn’t dare call your private line. I can’t call Sam or Viki either, in case their phones are tapped.”

“I understand. I spoke with them earlier. We suspected you might decide to call me for a consultation. First, tell me how you and your colleague are getting along. There was great concern that your initial experiment might have had some unforeseen results.” The nurse at the station moved away to answer questions from another doctor and Susannah quickly whispered, “Where are you? Are you both OK?”

Todd laughed. “Yeah. Delgado says hi. We’re on our way out of the country, but Téa thought you’d all be worried and she wanted to call and let everyone know that we’re alive and well.” He paused and his voice sounded sad as he continued. “Susannah, it will probably be a long time before we can call again.”

“Todd wait!” said Susannah. Biting her tongue for saying his name aloud, she looked around nervously. It appeared that no one had overheard. “Listen. This is very important. Téa’s brother, Agent Delgado, has been called into the case.” She could hear Todd’s indrawn breath. “Viki and Sam have shared with him their concerns about the validity of the evidence against you, and they think Agent Delgado might be able to help. They want you to call him.”

“No way, Susannah! I call him and the feds will be down our throats in a minute.” Outside the phone booth, Téa noticed Todd becoming increasingly agitated.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, banging on the glass. “Todd, tell me!” she shouted. Susannah could hear the noise on the other end, but the curious nurse had moved back to her position just behind the phone.

“Look, Doctor, my colleagues and I are convinced that he is the best person to call in on the consultation. He has strong ties to your partner, which makes him very likely to be of help, and his connections to people at the top are the best. The general consensus is that your plan to try the experiment outside of the US will cause almost irreparable damage to your reputations.” Susannah took a deep breath, hoping that she had managed to be convincing without tipping anyone off as to the true identity of her caller.

Todd gestured at Téa, signaling her to wait. “Susannah, I’ve got to go,” he said, more than a little sad. “Tell everyone…tell everyone goodbye. We’ll call when we can.”

“Please take my advice!” shouted Susannah. The nurse looked up, surprised by the break in Doctor Hannen’s usually aloof demeanor. Susannah swallowed and spoke more softly. “Please. It’s your only chance for a successful outcome.”

“I can’t, Susannah. Bye.” The psychiatrist blinked back tears as she heard the cold click as the call disconnected. Taking a deep breath, she had herself under control as she turned around to hang up the receiver.

“Is there a problem, Doctor Hannen?” asked the nurse, looking her over closely.

“I hope not, Nurse,” said Susannah with a heavy sigh. “Listen. Call my pager if anything needs my attention. I’m signing out for the day.” She hurried down the corridor, intent on heading to Llanfair to share her news with Viki and Sam.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“C’mon, Todd, something is wrong, I can tell! What did Susannah say that upset you so much?” asked Téa as they walked down the road toward their modest motel.

“Delgado, I told you it’s nothing I can’t handle. Hey, I’m starving. Do you think that convenience store has any guacamole?”

“Quit trying to change the subject, Manning. I want to know the truth.” Todd looked into Téa’s dark brown eyes and knew he couldn’t lie about this.

Taking a deep breath he said, “OK. Here it is. Your brother the fed is tracking us.” Téa gasped in shock. It was one thing to be on the run from the law, but quite another to be disappointing someone who had had so much faith in her. She could only imagine how angry her brother was, and shuddered at the thought of confronting those steely eyes as they looked at her with disgust.

“Del? Del is coming after us?” she asked in a small voice.

“Well, not exactly. I don’t think they have a clue where we are,” said Todd, his eyes searching the shadows at the edge of the road. “But Susannah made it clear that Sam and Viki think you should call him. I told her she was nuts.” They had arrived back at their cabin, and Téa removed her jacket and looked deep in thought as she lit the gas burner and put the teakettle on.

After spending the day in the dry-docked boat, they had emerged at dusk and hitched a ride with some joy-riding teenagers. They had been dropped off about 30 miles closer to the Canadian border in another small mountain resort town. But that appeared to be the end of their luck for the evening. Despite shivering in the cold night air for over three hours, they hadn’t been able to snag another ride. As it got later, the traffic all but disappeared and they had decided to risk renting a motel room rather than spend the night sleeping out in the cold. Téa had been surprised when the elderly couple who ran the little resort had been willing to rent them a cabin in spite of the fact that it appeared they were closed for the season. But her cover story of being a honeymoon couple who had the misfortune of an automobile breakdown seemed to do the trick, and within minutes they found themselves in a small, but cozy little retreat.

“You know, Todd,” said Téa as she absent-mindedly spread mayonnaise on a sandwich, “Viki and Sam might be right.”

“About what?” asked Todd as he shoved more wood into the fireplace.

“About calling my brother.” Todd stood up abruptly and walked over to stand at her side.

“Téa, I know you miss him, but we’ll be arrested,” he said patiently, grabbing a slice of turkey from the stack, dipping it in the jar of mayonnaise and shoving the whole thing into his mouth. “We’ll be right back in Sykes’ clutches. I’m ready for that jerk this time, but I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

“Wait. Hear me out,” said Téa, gesturing wildly with the knife. “Del may be able to help us bring Sykes down.”

“No one can help us, Delgado, especially not another cop. Look, it’s only an hour or so to the border. If we keep to the backroads, I think we can risk traveling in daylight tomorrow. We’ll hitch a ride, or buy a car—heck, maybe we’ll even steal one—and before you know it, we’ll be in Canada. Once we’re there, I have a contact in Toronto. He’ll get us some fake passports and we can be on our way to wherever you want.”

“Llanview, Todd?” said Téa, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “What if Llanview is where I want to be?” Todd reached out a finger to wipe away her tear.

“Téa, you know we can never go back,” he said softly, hurting along with her.

“Todd, we can’t give up and let Sykes take our whole lives away from us. Not when there is a chance that we could expose his lies. As an FBI agent, Del has resources that we haven’t dreamed of. If we explain…he’ll help us clear your name.”

“Your brother hates me!” said Todd, flinging away from her to run his fingers through his hair. “He’ll turn me over to Sykes and ask the questions later. No, it’s safer to run.”

“Is it really, Todd? How long until you can’t stand it and come back to see Starr again? Then what? John can just lay in wait and kill you at his leisure. He’ll have the law on his side.” Todd stood trembling, staring into the fire. Téa reached up a hand to stroke his face. “Look, let me at least call and talk to my brother. I won’t stay on the phone long enough for the call to be traced. After I hear what he has to say, we’ll make the decision together on whether or not to ask for his help, OK?”

Todd caught up her hand and squeezed it tightly. “My life is in your hands, Téa, you know that. But if you’re wrong, I’m a dead man.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Querido, would you please stop that pacing and come sit down?” asked Téa, eyeing her agitated companion.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this!” said Todd for the tenth time that night, tweaking at the curtains to peek again at the parking lot. Téa rolled her eyes in exasperation. She was stretched out on the couch, trying to concentrate on an old copy of Last of the Mohicans that she had found in the cabin. In reality, she was just as nervous as Todd was, but she was trying her best not to show it.

“Relax. Del said he would come alone and he’s never broken his word to me,” she said, secretly hoping that there wasn’t a first time for everything.

“Yeah, well, you’ve never been a fugitive on the run from the law before, either,” grumbled Todd. “Your brother’s a fed and that little fact could really piss him off. He could be on his way with those tanks and fire bombs they used at Waco.”

Téa had to chuckle a little at his paranoia, although she was worried that he might not be too far off the mark this time. Her brother could be unpredictable, but for some reason, she trusted him. During the initial phone call, Del had requested an opportunity to meet with them in person, promising that he wouldn’t turn them in or try to arrest them. He just wanted to talk over their options, he insisted. He had shared enough details to reveal that he was deeply distrustful of Sykes and he had managed to convince Téa that he was sincere in his desire to help them. Téa had hung up on him, but during another long, knockdown drag-out discussion with Todd, she had talked him into trusting her brother with their lives.

They hadn’t gone to bed at all, and the night had passed very slowly as they waited to see if they had been betrayed. Téa had dozed on and off on the couch, but she doubted that Todd’s eyes had shut even once. Now it was nearly dawn, and enough time had passed for Del to make the trip from Llanview. Téa hoped that he would get there soon. She could tell that Todd couldn’t take much more waiting.

It was so quiet out in the country that they could hear the car coming at least half a mile away. As it began to slow down as the brakes were applied, Todd doused the lights and signaled Téa to silence. She joined him at the window and they crouched down, peering over the sill as the automobile’s headlights lit up the yard. The car came to a standstill and the engine was turned off. It was a plain white government issue sedan and a tall figure emerged, dressed in a raincoat. Téa felt her heart leap as she recognized her brother. He appeared to be alone. She and Todd watched him walk up to a cabin two doors away and knock on the door. When nothing happened, he knocked again. Téa thought she heard him call her name. Todd searched the lightening landscape for any sign of an ambush. After a minute or two, he nodded to Téa and she carefully opened the door. “Del!” she whispered into the gloom.

Her brother turned quickly, reaching into the front of his trenchcoat. He relaxed when he recognized his sister and jogged over to the other cabin. After they were inside, the two embraced warmly, as Todd glared defiantly at them. A few minutes later, they were settled with hot coffee before a newly re-kindled fire. Todd and Del had been engaged in a stare-down contest while Téa had prattled away on various topics, trying her best to fill the uncomfortable void in conversation.

“So Manning,” said Del roughly, indicating that the niceties, such that they were, were at an end. “Once again you’ve managed to drag my sister into your sordid life.” Todd bristled and opened his mouth, but Téa cut him off.

“He didn’t drag me anywhere, Del,” said Téa with a frown. “I’m here because we didn’t have any other choice.” Téa began to regret jumping in so hastily when her brother whipped around and stared at her with flint in his dark eyes.

“No choice? NO CHOICE?” he bellowed. “What the hell were you thinking, Téa? You could have been killed pulling a stunt like that!! If you thought Manning was in danger, you should have called me before you decided to go Thelma, or Louise, or whatever you want to call it!”

“There was no time, Del!” shouted Téa, getting right in her brother’s face. “I tried to call you, but all I got was your voicemail.” Del looked guilty for a moment. “Sykes had point blank told me that he was going to kill Todd and make it look like an escape, and I couldn’t think of anything else to do! So I got the Ferrari, and I know the area down by the docks pretty well. There’s this little alley…”

“Wait a minute,” said Del, holding up his hand. “Are you saying YOU drove the Ferrari during the get-away? YOU managed to elude the entire Llanview PD, including two choppers?” Téa nodded, noticing the undisguised pride in her brother’s eyes. “Damn,” he chuckled.

“She had a good teacher,” said Todd, speaking for the first time.

Del frowned. “Juan Carlos back in the neighborhood?”

Todd stomped his foot in annoyance. “No, you idiot! Me!” Biting her lip to hide her amusement, Téa held her hand up to keep the peace.

“Look, Del, what’s done is done. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do to prove that Sykes has set up Todd.”

“Are you sure that’s what he’s done, Téa?” asked her brother skeptically.

“Positive. He gave me the whole litany when he had me trapped in the lady’s room.”

“WHAT?!” shouted Todd and Del at the same time.

Téa hesitated, looking back and forth at the two faces she loved. “He…he’s sick,” she managed to sputter weakly. She pushed back her hair and gave a deep sigh. “After they arrested you, Amor, and wouldn’t let me see you…well…John…he came into the restroom and locked us in. He said he had set you up to show me that you really were an unfeeling monster, but when I didn’t believe in the false witness, it ruined his plan. So, that’s when he decided to kill you.”

“Did anyone see you in there, Téa? Could anyone have overheard?” asked Del.

“No. He made sure of that. He’s even more paranoid than Todd.” To their surprise, she turned away and began sobbing. The two men leapt to their feet, but Todd got there first, holding her against his chest, confused by the vehemence of her reaction. Suddenly he went rigid, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her away so he could look in her face.

“Did he hurt you, Delgado? Is that what this is about?” He was shaking with suppressed emotion. Téa just stared at him, biting her lip as the tears poured down her cheeks. Finally, she nodded weakly.

“Oh my God!” shouted Todd. “What did he do? Hit you? Threaten you? Because I’ll….” He stopped cold, the color draining from his face. “Oh no,” he said in a strangled voice. “He didn’t….oh God, he didn’t…”

“No! He didn’t…he didn’t rape me, Todd,” she said quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief, but he was still pale. “He…he touched me…all over. He stuck his hands on me! Oh, he made my flesh crawl!”

Todd looked at the FBI agent. “Sykes is dead,” he said in a voice colder than the grave.

“Yeah? Well, get in line, Bro,” said Del, reaching out to caress his sister’s wet cheek. “We’ll get him, Chica, and then he’s gonna pay for what he did. But I’ve looked at every record I can dig up on the guy. He’s squeaky clean, at least on paper. It will take months to dig up anything we can use against him, and time is something that we don’t have.”

Todd cleared his throat, still holding Téa. He looked down at her, making eye contact. “I may be able to help out in that department,” he said slowly. “As soon as I completed my jail term, I sent a guy down to DC to see what he could dig up on Johnny boy. This guy is good—freelance investigator. I’ve used him in the past to get information. I wanted to get something to convince you Sykes was dirty, Téa.”

“Did you get anything?” asked Del, interested.

“Oh yeah,” said Todd, his face grim. “Drugs, gambling, sex…he’s into it all.”

“You mean he’s an addict?”

“No, I mean he’s the pusher, the bookie, the pimp. He blackmails everyone from Congressmen to federal judges. If they don’t give him what he wants, he feeds them to the sharks, exposing their weaknesses to the whole world.”

Téa looked confused. “So, with all those contacts and dirty money, what’s he doing in a little backwater like Llanview, playing second fiddle to the police commissioner?”

“My guess is he’s after bigger and better things. Look how quickly he washed his hands of Psycho Babs and his step-Daddy, Congressman Graham. Sicko is on a power trip. I’ll bet he’s looking for a way to get rid of Bo again, so he can be back in the top job. Then, next year he runs for Graham’s old seat, and bingo! He’s a Congressman. Who knows? He could end up in the White House.”

“Interesting theory, Manning, but without proof, that’s all it is—a theory.”

“I just told you. I’ve got proof…or at least my man in DC has it.”

Del paced around the room, stopping to stare into the fire. Todd and Téa sank into the sofa cushions, cradling each other. They were beyond exhausted, emotionally and physically. Finally, Del shrugged his shoulders and turned toward them with his face set in hard lines.

“OK, this is what we’re going to do, and I don’t want any arguments out of either of you. You’re going to turn yourselves in.” He waited until the barrage of swearing, protests and questions died down, then faced the two angry people in front of him.

“Look, you’re fugitives now and that gives every cop in this country the right to gun you both down. Now I don’t give a rat’s ass about you, Manning, but I’m not going to see my sister hurt anymore because of you. You’re going to surrender to me, and I’ll put you in federal custody. It’s the only place Sykes can’t get at you.”

“I’m not going to jail again.” “You have no choice. You go to the Federal Detention Center in Manhattan; my sister goes to a safe house. Meanwhile, you’ll

set up a meeting for me with your guy in DC and I’ll look over his evidence. If I’m convinced it’s legit, I’ll help you go after Sykes and prove the murder charges are false.”

“And I just get to sit in prison and wait for you to save the day?”

“Yes.”

Todd shot to his feet, grabbing for a heavy ceramic ashtray. He flung it with all his might at the brick fireplace, narrowly missing Del, who didn’t flinch. The object shattered, sending shards of pottery to every corner of the room. “Damn you!” shouted Todd. Téa rose to her feet, reaching out a hand to calm the man she loved. “I told you, Téa!” he shouted, moving out of her grasp. “I told you your lousy two-bit fed of a brother would sell us out.”

“Del, can’t he go to the safe house, instead of…”

“No! Not if you want to come out of this with your lives intact. Téa, you will be charged with aiding and abetting an escape. You could lose your license to practice law over this! Now, it’s going to take all the favors I can call in to make those charges disappear, and I can’t even promise it will happen. We’ll play this like I was in on the whole thing and helping you from the start. Manning has to voluntarily turn himself in. He’s a suspect in a crime, so that means he goes to jail. You we’ll present as his lawyer who brokered the deal. Your life is in danger, so you go into protective custody. If we sell this, you both could walk away without any consequences from the escape. But first we have to get Sykes to admit that he set up Manning and planned to kill him.”

Téa turned to Todd, who was still trembling with rage. “Todd, it seems like the only way.”

“We could still get away, Téa. We don’t have to do this.”

“You won’t get far, Manning. They’re closing in on you. Keep trying to run and you’ll end up getting killed. Or worse, getting my sister killed because of you.”

Todd clenched his fists at his side. Prison. “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he growled.

“Yes, I do. I’m asking you to prove your love for Téa by doing what is best for her.” Todd looked at Téa, her face shining with unadulterated love for him. He knew her brother was right.

“You don’t play fair,” he said, resigned.

“Never have, Manning. Let’s go.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

With Del at the wheel, they arrived in New York by early afternoon. Téa had fallen asleep during the long drive, but Todd had remained awake, even though it was obvious he was exhausted. Del glanced at them in the rear view mirror from time to time, noting how Todd held Téa protectively against his shoulder as she slept. Although she was unconscious, Téa instinctively snuggled into Todd’s shirt, clutching at him in her sleep.

Returning his eyes to the road, Del pondered some of the ironic twists that life could provide sometimes. He didn’t like Todd, and probably never would, given the amount of trouble he seemed to cause for Téa. But seeing them together as they tenderly held each other, the FBI agent realized with a start that Todd was probably the perfect match for his sister. He growled and snarled at everyone else, but there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Téa, and that was something that Del couldn’t argue with. He shook his head as he drove, remembering how happy he was when he thought Manning was out of her life for good. He had been thrilled that his sister was actually dating a detective, and look what a low-life that creep had turned out to be. Téa saw something in Todd that no one else could see, thought Del. As he saw Todd gently brush a lock of hair from Téa’s face, for a moment, Del got a glimpse of just what that ‘something’ might be.

A few minutes later they arrived at their destination, a forbidding high rise building shared by many federal agencies. The top floors were used to detain suspects in cases of organized crime, smuggling, bank fraud or any number of federal offenses. Del had phoned ahead and arranged for Todd to be booked under an alias. They didn’t want Sykes to know of their plan to bring him down, so for now they would keep him in the dark as to Todd’s whereabouts. They’d let him think that Manning and Téa were still on the run.

Todd had awakened Téa as they arrived. Del let them have a minute or two of privacy in the back of the car before they went in. He tried not to watch as they kissed and embraced each other, but he detected the unmistakable glint of tears in both their eyes. When they emerged a few minutes later, they both looked grim. They followed Del into the building, past banks of security cameras, metal detectors and armed guards. The three of them got on an elevator that required an access code, which Del punched into the keypad. Todd and Téa still held hands, but their grip on each other seemed to take on a desperate quality as the moment of separation approached.

They emerged at the floor Del had indicated and entered a kind of waiting room. “You’ll be all right, won’t you?” asked Téa, stroking Todd’s cheek and trying her best to control her emotions. Her brother was signing some papers and handing them over to the agent at the lone desk.

“I’ll make it,” said Todd barely above a whisper. They pressed their foreheads together, each drinking in the essence of the other. Behind a heavy door, they could hear a sequence of loud buzzes which sounded progressively closer as someone came through a series of locked doors. They both jumped as the final portal opened into the room. A burly uniformed guard emerged. He shot a glance at Todd, then moved to Agent Delgado for instructions.

“All right, Manning. It’s time,” said Del, walking toward the couple with the guard trailing after him. Todd and Téa locked eyes.

“It’s only for a little while, Todd, then nothing will ever separate us again,” said Téa, trying not to lose it. Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and faced the guard, making eye contact. The man indicated the open door and Todd took a few strides toward it. Faltering, he turned around.

“You keep her safe, Delgado,” he said to Del in a gruff voice. “If anything happens to her…”

“It won’t. You have my word.” Todd nodded silently, and took a few more steps toward the door. Just as he passed the threshold, he turned around once more. A long corridor was behind him.

“I love you,” he said simply, his voice catching as he stared into Téa’s eyes.

“I love you, too!” answered Téa amidst a torrent of tears which had finally spilled down her cheeks. The door swung closed and latched with a loud click, hiding Todd from view. Del took Téa into his arms, trying to comfort her in spite of the fact that she was beating painfully against his chest with her fists.

“Shhhh, Little One,” he said quietly. “It will be all right, I promise.” Gently, he took her shoulders and steered her toward the elevator. Glancing back at the door where Todd had disappeared, Téa wondered if things would ever be all right again.

TO BE CONTINUED

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