IMPOSTER - PART FOURTEEN

PREVIOUSLY

Through the sounds of her running, she picked up another sound -- at first faint -- but then increasing in volume -- heavy footsteps running behind her. Between her gasps of breath, she listened with sheer terror to the voice approaching her on the road.

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She almost turned around, but something else gnawed at her mind as she ran. Who are you? Are you Todd...or Pete? Pete had fooled her several times before. I can't risk it...I have to run! The escalating doubt that the voice behind her was Todd drove her to increase her speed and head for the tangled brush near the woods. I can hide in there. No matter what I can't let him find me!
"Tea!!" the voice called out again but from a greater distance as she leaped through some thickets -- looking for the nearest hiding place. Not far away was a very large clump of thick brush and she worked her way toward it. A few seconds later -- just as she had placed herself in the midst of the brush -- footsteps thudded against the ground directly across from her. She crouched as low as she could and breathed in small, shallow breaths as she fearfully waited for him to go away.
She waited for what seemed forever for any noise to indicate that he was still lurking around. The only sounds were coming from the night crickets, and she shivered as she thought of what had just happened in that cabin. Who had won? Who was the stronger of the two?
She rose from her hunched position and stood motionless -- trying to focus again on any sudden movements around her. With some hesitation, she moved forward cautiously -- willing herself to take a chance since she didn't want to spend the night in these woods. Still moving very slowly, she edged her way toward the road again and scanned the area where she had been running . Please be gone! I want out of this nightmare!
Her shoes picked their way along the side of the road with the foliage still shrouding her from view. She began to jog as she saw a small point of light down the road. I'm almost there. I can make it...I can..."
"Tea!" a man's voice burst forth and bare arms swept around her in a seemingly protective hug. "You can stop running, Tea...It's me...Todd!"
"NO!!!" she screamed out and exerted as much pressure as she could against his arms. All at once the tremendous ordeal that she had gone through which had begun in the afternoon and had continued into the evening came crashing in on her. "No...No...No!! You're not Todd! Leave me alone...just leave me alone!" she cried out hysterically as his brute strength prevented her from getting free of him. As her sobs shook her body, she heard another sound against her hair.
"Shhhh...it's okay. You're okay, Tea. I'm here. He's gone...Pete is gone."
Tea's heart seemed to open up again as she heard the soothing words. I want to believe...oh, dear God...I want to believe this is my husband -- the man I adore. What do I do?
For a minute she remained locked up in his arms --- resting against his chest and wondering what he would do next. Pete knew how to be a chameleon and change to suit his purposes. He's so twisted that he would do anything to torture me -- even mental torture.
The man on the other side of her turned her around in his arms and roughly cupped her face with one hand and held her there.
"Look at me, Tea! Just look at me!! Look at my eyes...what do you see there?"
Tea didn't want to look into his eyes and tried to avert her eyes from them.
"Look at me, Delgado!" he insisted again and she tried to lower her head.
"Okay, fine! Don't look at me! You're one stubborn wife, y'know that?" he said and pulling her face to his, he kissed her lips with exasperation and something else.
The kiss was not like any kiss she had ever had. All those times when Todd had touched her with his lips, there had always been something missing from his kiss -- as if he was holding back in some way. She had accepted that he was not ready for unrestrained passion, but she had never known why. This feels so good...your lips are burning into mine...drawing me in. Pete's kisses had been calculated and erotic, but this kiss went beyond anything she had felt in her life. She stumbled against him as the doubt in her heart began to fade.
"Todd...if this isn't you...I..."she faltered and then broke down into convulsive sobs against his bare chest.
All at once the floodgates opened up to her racked emotions and she couldn't stop crying. From that moment at the docks when she had known he was to be the most important person in her life, she was reliving all the moments of heartache, despair and her aching need for him. Denying it all had been futile -- even at the point when she was ready to leave him forever. There had been no mistaking the connection between them that wouldn't die.
"Delgado...settle down!" he said somewhat testily but with a depth of caring which rocked her soul.
As she lifted her watery eyes to look at him, she drew in a deep breath as she read what was there in them. This is my Todd. These are his eyes focused on me with his entire soul behind it. There's something else there, too.
With complete relief she tightened her arms around him as a strange joy took over. Without thinking she grabbed his face and planted small, heartfelt kisses all around his mouth -- wanting to show him that she missed him terribly and would never let him go again.
The old Todd would have sniped at her or given her one of his dark, warning looks if she had approached him this way. She hadn't even thought of his reaction because she just didn't care anymore that he knew how much she loved and desired him.
The scarred face, which had been marked so cruelly by his past, dissolved into a grin and he chuckled in a low, seductive tone. "Mrs. Manning...you're gong to make me crazy...all that loopy stuff...but...I like it!" He picked her up off the ground and swung her around in a wild fashion -- exulting in what was a moment of release for both of them from all that they had been through. Breathless and dizzy, Tea heard her laughter in the night air and was amazed that it felt so natural and right at last.
"Todd!" Tea's face was flushed with happiness and she wanted time to stand still. Yet she had some lingering questions which kept pushing to the front of her thoughts. Questions about what had happened after she left the cabin.
"Where is Pete, Todd? You said he was gone. What did you do to him? Did you...kill him?" she asked rapidly with no break between the questions.
"One at a time, Delgado! I'm getting to it, alright?" he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Pete is gone...banished...but...not dead."
"What do you mean banished?"she asked somewhat nervous again that Pete was not completely cancelled out and could possibly break through again.
"I mean that I've put him in a place where he'll never get free again. He's been integrated with all the others, Tea. He's no longer a power in my life. I won, Tea. I beat the crap out of that b@stard!"
"You're sure, Todd? I mean...how do you know that..."
Todd's hazel eyes reflected a wisdom that she had never seen before. His false bravado was gone and in its place was a new, enlightened attitude which seemed very powerful and very intimidating.
"I know, Delgado. Trust me on this."
"We've got to get out of here...now!" he said brusquely and grabbed her hand. She clutched his hand -- this time not questioning his motives -- as he ran with her back to the cabin. He fished out the remote lock from his pocket and unlocked the doors to the Lamborghini.
"Get in the car!" he ordered and ran into the house.
Tea stared dumbly after him and sighed as she opened the door of the car. Wild as ever! I never know what this man will do! As she settled herself down into the soft, leather seat, the corners of her mouth curved up in a smile. I never know what you will do, but that's what I've always loved about you, querido. Life is one great big risk with you. This time I'm not going to put up a fight...I'm going along for the ride -- wherever it takes us!
Todd appeared at the front door again -- Pete's silk shirt tucked in and the leather vest apparently slung haphazardly over his shoulders. He closed the cabin door and locked it. He opened the driver's door and slid his long legs in and patted the steering wheel appreciatively. "With this baby, we can outrun anyone!" Turning to her with a grin, he noticed that she had a worried expression on her face.
"What is it? You've got that look on your face, Delgado. What did I say?"
"Well, I'm just wondering, Todd...do you ever plan on letting anyone know where we are? I'm sure Sam is worried sick about me; he thinks you're still Pete -- and I'm sure Viki has been notified by now. Couldn't we just call them or something?"
Todd reached over and put his hand on her knee in a reassuring gesture. "I'm planning on it, Tea, but there's also probably a swarm of cops and FBI out there looking for us. Let me handle this, okay?" he spoke softly but with firm authority.
Tea wanted to throw it in his face that he had not handled his life very well up to this point, but she bit her lip in silence. I've got to trust him now. I know that. He's come out of the fire and I can see the difference in him. He needs my support more than ever. Cool it, Delgado!
She nodded and put on her seatbelt as he revved up the powerful motor of the Lamborghini. It sounded so loud against the hushed quiet of the night, and she tensed with a feeling of excitement in her veins. I'm completely mad! I'm running from the police with my own husband! We're like a couple of fugitives in a great adventure! She tingled with anticipation and an awareness that she and Todd were together at last in their hearts and minds.
The car's sleek body whipped around in a circle and Todd floored the gas -- sending the automobile out into the night like a mighty animal. As they flew down the road, the headlights from another car shone in their direction.
"Todd! Who could that be?" Tea leaned forward and tried to make out the car heading toward them.
"Well, I'm not sticking around to find out, Delgado!" he said with determination and shifted the gear so that the automobile shot forward and zoomed full speed ahead -- flying past the other car in a haze of dust.

Viki Carpenter saw the headlights of the oncoming car approaching her on the road that led to her cabin. The outline of the car looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't make it out from a distance and in the dark.
Sam inched forward in his seat -- noticing the car headed for them immediately. He saw her face set in a rigid manner and knew something wasn't right.
"Viki...who's that? Could it be Pete...and Tea?" he questioned her quickly as the car came closer and closer.
"Sam," she said with an instant flash of insight, "that's the only person it could be! No one else would be up here!"
Viki felt as if her car was standing still as the Lamborghini roared by at an incredible speed. It was her brother's car, but she couldn't see into the car because of the tinted windows.
"Hang on, Sam!" Viki said with a strange calmness for what she knew she was about to do. Her arm grasped the steering wheel of the Continental and with a screech of tire wheels, the ordinarily sedate passenger car did a 180 turn on the road and lunged forward in pursuit of the Lamborghini whose form was gradually vanishing in the distance.
Sam had reached out and grabbed the door rest on the car as the Continental spun around -- his body lurching against the side of the door. He stared in amazement at the woman sitting next to him -- the refined matriarch of a powerful Llanview family -- who had just given him a show of driving which left him speechless.
"Viki!" he managed to find his voice again, "What in the Sam Hill are you doing?"

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~